Brief Report: Interaction between social class and risky decision-making in children with psychopathic tendencies.
OBJECTIVE
Adult psychopaths are thought to have risky decision-making and behavioral disinhibition, but little is known about the moderating effects of psychosocial factors and whether these associations can be observed in children with psychopathic tendencies. This study tests the biosocial hypothesis that social class will moderate psychopathy-neurocognition relationships, with these effects being stronger in children from high social classes.


METHODS
Preadolescent community twins (N=298) were assessed on decision-making (Iowa Gambling) and behavior inhibition (Porteus Maze) tasks, while psychopathic tendencies and socioeconomic status were assessed by the child's caregiver.


RESULTS
A significant interaction was observed whereby risky decision-making was associated with psychopathic tendencies only in children from benign home environments.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings support a biosocial interaction perspective on child psychopathy, suggesting that risky decision-making may particularly predispose to psychopathic traits in children from benign home backgrounds.
Gao
Yu
Y
Department of Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, McNeil Building Suite 483, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. yugao@sas.upenn.edu
Baker
Laura A
LA
Raine
Adrian
A
Wu
Henry
H
Bezdjian
Serena
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014427:Twins / Q000523:psychology*