title: Psychopathic traits and preattentive threat processing in children: a novel test of the fearlessness hypothesis.
abstract: We tested the fearlessness hypothesis of psychopathy in an at-risk sample of 88 preadolescent children. Psychopathy was measured using combined child- and parent-reported scores on the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). Using a continuous-flash-suppression paradigm, we evaluated threat processing at the preattentive level for the first time in a study of psychopathy. Scores for the APSD Callous/Unemotional factor, which assesses the core affective deficits of psychopathy, predicted preattentive face-recognition deficits for fearful faces and, to a lesser extent, for disgusted faces. This finding contradicts recent suggestions that the fearlessness associated with psychopathy is solely a consequence of overt attentional artifacts. Future research should focus on preattentive processing of fear in individuals with callous-unemotional traits, and on the implications of preattentive-processing deficits for treatment and theory development.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-6560, USA. patrick.sylvers@va.gov
authors: Patrick D
authors: PD
authors: Sylvers
authors: Patricia A
authors: PA
authors: Brennan
authors: Scott O
authors: SO
authors: Lilienfeld
mesh_terms: D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis