title: Callous-unemotional traits are associated with deficits in recognizing complex emotions in preadolescent children.
abstract: The aims of the current study were to show that the affective component of psychopathy (callous-unemotional traits) is related to deficits in recognizing emotions over and above other psychopathy dimensions and to show that this relationship is driven by a specific deficit in recognizing complex emotions more so than basic emotions. The authors administered the Child Eyes Test to assess emotion recognition in a community sample of preadolescent children between the ages of 10 and 12 (N = 417; 53.6% boys). The task required children to identify a broad array of emotions from photographic stimuli depicting the eye region of the face. Stimuli were then divided into complex or basic emotions. Results demonstrated a unique association between callous-unemotional traits and complex emotions, with weaker associations with basic emotion recognition, over and above other dimensions of psychopathy.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.affiliation: 2 The Menninger Clinic.
authors.forename: Salome
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vanwoerden
authors.affiliation: 3 Curium-Leiden University Medical Centre, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Van Baardewijk
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychology, University of Houston.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Tackett
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Developmental Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and PI Research, Duivendrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stegge
mesh_terms: D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004644:Emotions; D005123:Eye; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male