Springer Verlag, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9(45), p. 1889-1901
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-016-0520-4
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Callous unemotional traits and conduct disorder symptoms tend to co-occur across development, with existing evidence pointing to individual differences in the co-development of these problems. The current study identified groups of at risk adolescents showing stable (i.e., high on both conduct disorder and callous-unemotional symptoms, high only on either callous-unemotional or conduct disorder symptoms) or increasing conduct disorder and callous-unemotional symptoms. Data were collected from a sample of 2038 community adolescents between 15 and 18 years (1070 females, Mage = 16) of age. A longitudinal design was followed in that adolescent reports were collected at two time points, one year apart. Increases in conduct disorder symptoms and callous-unemotional traits were accompanied by increases in anxiety, depressive symptoms, narcissism, proactive and reactive aggression and decreases in self-esteem. Furthermore, adolescents with high and stable conduct disorder symptoms and callous-unemotional traits were consistently at high risk for individual, behavioral and contextual problems. In contrast, youth high on callous-unemotional traits without conduct disorder symptoms remained at low-risk for anxiety, depressive symptoms, narcissism, and aggression, pointing to a potential protective function of pure callous-unemotional traits against the development of psychopathological problems.