Salivary cortisol and psychopathy dimensions in detained antisocial adolescents.

Unlabelled: Previous research revealed hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis abnormalities in relation to antisocial and aggressive behavior. Some evidence suggests that low cortisol levels may serve as a biological marker for a severe antisocial subgroup with pronounced callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Children displaying the combination of severe antisocial behavior and CU traits appear to be particularly at risk of developing adult psychopathy.

Youth psychopathy: Differential correlates of callous-unemotional traits, narcissism, and impulsivity.

Research supports the validity of the dimensional approach to psychopathy in both children and adults. The occurrence of severe aggressive and antisocial behavior in combination with callous-unemotional traits (CU traits) designates a group of children that is particularly at risk to develop psychopathy. However, most studies did not investigate the role of the remaining psychopathy dimensions (i.

Assessing Callous-Unemotional traits across different groups of youths: further cross-cultural validation of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional traits.

The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional (CU) Traits (ICU) is a self-report questionnaire which was developed to measure the affective features of psychopathy in children and adolescents. Previous studies reported both support and difficulties with this promising new measure. The present study investigated the psychometric and discriminating qualities of the Dutch questionnaire across different groups by examining its structure, distribution and correlates.