Psychopathic Traits in Childhood: Insights from Parental Warmth and Fearless Temperament via Conscience Development
The role of psychopathic traits in predicting more serious and persistent patterns of child conduct problems has been well documented. The jointly presence of interpersonal (grandiose–deceitful), affective (e.g., callous–unemotional), and behavioral psychopathic traits (impulsive–need of stimulation...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/7/923 |
| _version_ | 1797527538161942528 |
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| author | Laura López-Romero Olalla Cutrín Lorena Maneiro Beatriz Domínguez-Álvarez Estrella Romero |
| author_facet | Laura López-Romero Olalla Cutrín Lorena Maneiro Beatriz Domínguez-Álvarez Estrella Romero |
| author_sort | Laura López-Romero |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The role of psychopathic traits in predicting more serious and persistent patterns of child conduct problems has been well documented. The jointly presence of interpersonal (grandiose–deceitful), affective (e.g., callous–unemotional), and behavioral psychopathic traits (impulsive–need of stimulation) identifies a group of children at increased risk of psychosocial maladjustment. The present study aims to disentangle the underlying mechanisms by examining how early parenting (i.e., warmth) and child temperament (i.e., fearlessness) predict later psychopathic traits, via conscience development (CD). Data were collected in a large sample of children (<i>n</i> = 2.266; 48.5% girls), aged 3 to 6 at the onset of the study (<i>M</i>age = 4.25; <i>SD</i> = 0.91), who were followed up one and two years later. The results showed direct effects from fearlessness to interpersonal and behavioral psychopathic traits. Parental warmth, fearless temperament, and their interaction, predicted CD, which, in turn, showed a negative effect on psychopathic traits. The indirect effects indicated significant negative mediation effects of warmth through CD on psychopathic traits, which seem to be stronger when children present lower levels of fearlessness. Overall, these results contribute to better understand the development of child psychopathic traits and provide additional insight on effective strategies that will help to restrain the potential development of a high-risk profile in early childhood. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:44:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7ecedc8f16e54cce8dbda15f108f2370 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:44:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-7ecedc8f16e54cce8dbda15f108f23702023-11-22T03:20:49ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252021-07-0111792310.3390/brainsci11070923Psychopathic Traits in Childhood: Insights from Parental Warmth and Fearless Temperament via Conscience DevelopmentLaura López-Romero0Olalla Cutrín1Lorena Maneiro2Beatriz Domínguez-Álvarez3Estrella Romero4Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, SpainDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, SpainDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, SpainDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, SpainDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, SpainThe role of psychopathic traits in predicting more serious and persistent patterns of child conduct problems has been well documented. The jointly presence of interpersonal (grandiose–deceitful), affective (e.g., callous–unemotional), and behavioral psychopathic traits (impulsive–need of stimulation) identifies a group of children at increased risk of psychosocial maladjustment. The present study aims to disentangle the underlying mechanisms by examining how early parenting (i.e., warmth) and child temperament (i.e., fearlessness) predict later psychopathic traits, via conscience development (CD). Data were collected in a large sample of children (<i>n</i> = 2.266; 48.5% girls), aged 3 to 6 at the onset of the study (<i>M</i>age = 4.25; <i>SD</i> = 0.91), who were followed up one and two years later. The results showed direct effects from fearlessness to interpersonal and behavioral psychopathic traits. Parental warmth, fearless temperament, and their interaction, predicted CD, which, in turn, showed a negative effect on psychopathic traits. The indirect effects indicated significant negative mediation effects of warmth through CD on psychopathic traits, which seem to be stronger when children present lower levels of fearlessness. Overall, these results contribute to better understand the development of child psychopathic traits and provide additional insight on effective strategies that will help to restrain the potential development of a high-risk profile in early childhood.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/7/923psychopathic traitschildhoodfearlessnessparental warmthconscience development |
| spellingShingle | Laura López-Romero Olalla Cutrín Lorena Maneiro Beatriz Domínguez-Álvarez Estrella Romero Psychopathic Traits in Childhood: Insights from Parental Warmth and Fearless Temperament via Conscience Development Brain Sciences psychopathic traits childhood fearlessness parental warmth conscience development |
| title | Psychopathic Traits in Childhood: Insights from Parental Warmth and Fearless Temperament via Conscience Development |
| title_full | Psychopathic Traits in Childhood: Insights from Parental Warmth and Fearless Temperament via Conscience Development |
| title_fullStr | Psychopathic Traits in Childhood: Insights from Parental Warmth and Fearless Temperament via Conscience Development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychopathic Traits in Childhood: Insights from Parental Warmth and Fearless Temperament via Conscience Development |
| title_short | Psychopathic Traits in Childhood: Insights from Parental Warmth and Fearless Temperament via Conscience Development |
| title_sort | psychopathic traits in childhood insights from parental warmth and fearless temperament via conscience development |
| topic | psychopathic traits childhood fearlessness parental warmth conscience development |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/7/923 |
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