Moral reasoning,emotion understanding,and callous-unemotional traits in early-to-middle childhood

Relatively little is known about features of moral reasoning among young children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of guilt and empathy). This study tested associations between CU traits and emotion attributions (i.e., identification of others’ emotional states) and justifications (i.e., explanations for those emotional states), across social scenarios involving discreet versus salient distress cues. The participants were boys aged 6-to-10 years (N = 50; M_age = 7 years 7 months), who were interviewed about 12 hypothetical scenarios (eight with discreet and four with salient distress cues). Regression models indicated that CU traits, in interaction with high levels of antisocial behaviour, were associated with reduced emotion attributions of fear in discreet but not salient immoral scenarios. Higher CU traits were also associated with reduced justifications referencing others’ welfare in discreet scenarios, and increased references to action-orientated justifications in salient scenarios. These findings suggest that CU traits are associated with early moral reasoning impairments and that salience of distress may be important to these processes.     

Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents: Theory, Treatment Adaptations, and Empirical Outcomes

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was originally developed for chronically suicidal adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and emotion dysregulation. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) indicate DBT is associated with improvements in problem behaviors, including suicide ideation and behavior, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), attrition, and hospitalization. Positive outcomes with adults have prompted researchers to adapt DBT for adolescents. Given this interest in DBT for adolescents, it is important to review the theoretical rationale and the evidence base for this treatment and its adaptations. A solid theoretical foundation allows for adequate evaluation of content, structural, and developmental adaptations and provides a framework for understanding which symptoms or behaviors are expected to improve with treatment and why. We first summarize the adult DBT literature, including theory, treatment structure and content, and outcome research. Then, we review theoretical underpinnings, adaptations, and outcomes of DBT for adolescents. DBT has been adapted for adolescents with various psychiatric disorders (i.e., BPD, mood disorders, externalizing disorders, eating disorders, trichotillomania) and problem behaviors (i.e., suicide ideation and behavior, NSSI) across several settings (i.e., outpatient, day program, inpatient, residential, correctional facility). The rationale for using DBT with these adolescents rests in the common underlying dysfunction in emotion regulation among the aforementioned disorders and problem behaviors. Thus, the theoretical underpinnings of DBT suggest that this treatment is likely to be beneficial for adolescents with a broad array of emotion regulation difficulties, particularly underregulation of emotion resulting in behavioral excess. Results from open and quasi-experimental adolescent studies are promising; however, RCTs are sorely needed.     

Assessing the Functions of Non-suicidal Self-injury: Psychometric Properties of the Inventory of Statements About Self-injury (ISAS)

The present study reports the psychometric properties of the Inventory of Statements About Self-injury (ISAS), a measure designed to comprehensively assess the functions of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). The ISAS assesses 13 functions of NSSI, as well as the frequency of 12 NSSI behaviors. The ISAS was administered to 235 young adults from a college population who had performed at least one NSSI behavior. Consistent with previous research, ISAS functions comprised two factors representing interpersonal and intrapersonal functions. In addition, the ISAS factors exhibited excellent internal consistency and expected correlations with both clinical constructs (e.g., borderline personality disorder, suicidality, depression, anxiety) and contextual variables (e.g., tendency to self-injure alone). Findings support the reliability and validity of the ISAS. The ISAS may be useful in research and treatment contexts as a comprehensive measure of NSSI functions.     

Age differences in maximization

Studies have shown the existence of inter-individual differences in choice behavior, some people seeking for the best (maximizers) and others for a good enough option (satisficers). Here, we explored whether these inter-individual differences are influenced by aging and common personality traits (i.e., Big Five model). Young (n = 125; 19 years old) and elderly adults (n = 101; 86 years old) completed different scales assessing – among others – maximization and Big Five traits. Our results indicated a greater proportion of maximizers in elderly than in young adults. We also found a minor association between maximization and Big Five traits in both groups. In sum, aging influences choice behavior, but this cannot be explained by changes of common personality traits.     

Borderline personality traits in nonclinical young adults

The main purpose of this study was to explore the dimensionality of the borderline personality disorder in nonclinical young adults by means of the Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ; Poreh et al., 2006). We also studied the phenotypic expression of the borderline personality traits as a function of participants' gender and age, and the relationship between BPQ subscales and measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, hallucinatory predisposition, and paranoid ideation. The sample comprised 809 young adults, 562 (69.5%) were women, with a mean age of 20.2 years (SD = 2.9). The results indicate that the BPQ self-report has adequate psychometric properties. The levels of internal consistency for the BPQ subscales ranged between .78 and .93. Analysis of the internal structure of the BPQ subscales yielded a one-dimensional solution. In contrast, second-order principal components analysis at the item level yielded a five-dimensional solution. Likewise, statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the borderline personality traits as a function of participants' gender and age were found. The BPQ subscales correlated significantly with measures of depression, anxiety, stress, paranoid ideation, and hallucinatory predisposition. These results help to improve our understanding of the dimensional structure of the borderline personality in the general population. Future research should continue to identify participants who are at risk for the development of borderline personality disorder and facilitating the development of early detection and prevention programs.     

Personality styles in a non-clinical sample: The role of emotion dysregulation and impulsivity

Theories of personality and personality disorders are increasingly considering the centrality of emotion regulation and its dimensions. Impulsivity as well is recognized as a personality trait underlying diverse symptom presentations. Although research in this field has mainly regarded borderline personality disorder, recent studies supported the association of both emotion dysregulation and impulsivity with personality styles across all clusters. In the present study, we sought to extend extant research by investigating the joint contribution of selected difficulties in emotion regulation and impulsivity to traits of four personality styles in a community sample (N = 399, mean age = 37.91, 56.6% males). In particular, we focused on depressive, masochistic, passive-aggressive and sadistic personality styles. Multiple regression analyses showed the unique association of several domains of emotion dysregulation with all personality styles examined. Nonacceptance of emotional response was significantly and positively related with scores of all personality styles. Lack of emotional awareness was also characteristic of different styles. Beyond these similarities, distinct patterns were able to distinguish between externalizing (sadistic and passive-aggressive), and internalizing (depressive and masochistic) traits. Beyond the role of emotion dysregulation, trait impulsivity was also related to masochistic, passive-aggressive, and sadistic traits, independently explaining a significant amount of additional variance.     

Callous-Unemotional Traits Modulate Brain Drug Craving Response in High-Risk Young Offenders

Adults with psychopathy have a high propensity for substance abuse, generally starting from a young age. This investigation tested hypotheses about differences in the neural responses associated with drug craving among high-risk young offenders with histories of abuse of stimulants and other drugs as a function of psychopathic traits. Fifty-four male adolescents (44 with a history of stimulant abuse and 10 controls) incarcerated at a maximum-security facility (M age = 17.08 years) completed a drug-cue exposure task while brain hemodynamic activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a mobile MRI scanner stationed at the facility. Psychopathic traits were assessed using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV). In the stimulant abuser group, drug cues elicited activity in classic reward circuitry. Consistent with studies of adult psychopathic traits and substance abuse, there was a negative association between PCL-YV scores and hemodynamic response related to drug craving in the amygdala and ACC in youth with a history of stimulant abuse. However, there were considerably more negative associations between the PCL:YV and hemodynamic response among youth than adults and this was primarily due to callous-unemotional traits rather than interpersonal or behavioral traits. The implications for how personality traits modulate motivations for drug-seeking behavior among adolescent offenders are discussed.     

Relationship between schizotypal and borderline traits in college students

The main objective of the present investigation was to analyze the relationship between self-reported schizotypal and borderline personality traits in a sample of 759 college students (M = 19.63 years; SD = 2.03). For this purpose, the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B; Raine and Benishay, 1995) and Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ; Poreh et al., 2006) were administered. The results showed that schizotypal and borderline features are partially related at subclinical level. The exploratory factor analysis conducted on the subscales revealed a three-factor solution comprised of the following factors: Identity/Interpersonal, Lack of Control and Schizotypal. The canonical correlation analysis showed that schizotypal features and borderline personality traits shared 34.8% of the variance. The data highlight the overlap between schizotypal and borderline personality traits in nonclinical young adults. Future studies should continue to examine the relationship and the degree of overlap between these traits in community samples.     

Moral Emotions,Emotion Self-Regulation,Callous-Unemotional Traits,and Problem Behavior in Children of Incarcerated Mothers

Children with incarcerated mothers are at high risk for developing problem behaviors. Fifty children (6–12 years; 62% girls) participated in summer camps, along with adult mentors. Regression analyses of child and adult measures of child’s emotion self-regulation and callous-unemotional traits, and a child measure of moral emotions, showed that poor emotion regulation, along with low levels of guilt and high levels of shame, predicted children’s externalizing behaviors, while only low levels of guilt predicted a unique subset of child characteristics called callous-unemotional traits. Children who experienced healthy guilt for misdeeds were better able to control their behavior. Adults noted the ability of children with callous/unemotional traits to manage and regulate their emotions, while poor emotion regulation was more predictive of the cluster of externalizing problems. Discussion focuses on prevention efforts aimed at teaching emotion self-regulation and the implications of the high levels of callous-unemotional traits in this population of children.     

青少年非自杀性自伤行为持续和停止的预测性因素

非自杀性自伤是指个体在没有自杀意图的情况下故意伤害自己的身体,且不被社会所认可的行为,是个体未来自杀意图、自杀行为以及长期心理障碍等问题的重要风险因素。青少年作为高发人群,非自杀性自伤行为会对其身心健康造成严重危害,且具有明显的社会“传染”效应。因此了解对青少年非自杀性自伤行为的持续或停止具有预测作用的因素,有助于为该行为的早期预防及干预提供新视角。 通过梳理国内外采用纵向追踪、回溯性研究等方法的相关文献,并基于Nock的整合理论模型,将青少年非自杀性自伤行为的持续或停止具有预测作用的因素划分为生理机制、个人特质和社会因素三类。在生理机制上,青少年非自杀性自伤行为的持续或停止存在一定的神经生物学基础,如当青少年体内的β-内啡肽水平、杏仁核-额叶之间的静息态功能连接(RSFC)处于异常状态时,个体为恢复体内平衡,可能会对非自杀性自伤行为产生依赖,进而将该行为持续下去。在个人特质上,情绪调节存在缺陷的青少年更易出现并维持非自杀性自伤行为,而善于接受自己的情绪反应且能够使用适应性情绪调节策略的青少年在未来更易停止该行为;具有边缘型人格障碍、冲动型人格特征、低自尊水平、高自我批评与自我惩罚水平等特点的青少年通常会在较长时间内持续非自杀性自伤行为,相反,具有高自尊水平、对逆境持积极信念、低自我惩罚水平等特点的青少年则更可能停止该行为;青少年所依赖的非自杀性自伤功能也会影响该行为的发展进程,因自我功能(如情绪调节、自我惩罚等)而依赖于非自杀性自伤的青少年有很大的可能性长时间维持这一行为,而因人际功能(如引起他人关注、融入群体等)而依赖于非自杀性自伤的青少年在一段时间后更有可能停止该行为。在社会因素上,如同伴欺凌、不良家庭关系等风险因素可能会削弱个体应对痛苦的能力,进而诱发或加剧青少年的非自杀性自伤行为,反之,有效的社会支持资源(如同伴支持、家庭支持、心理咨询与治疗等)则有助于青少年非自杀性自伤行为的停止。 目前国内外相关研究多集中于非自杀性自伤行为的流行、研究方法、相关影响因素和功能等领域,对非自杀性自伤行为持续或停止的理论和实践探讨相对较少,未来相关研究应注意采用多样化的研究方法及非自杀性自伤行为测量技术,拓展研究领域(如性格、认知取向等),同时还应关注不同的年龄群体及文化背景差异,以进一步明确对非自杀性自伤行为发展进程具有显著预测作用的风险因素和保护性因素,并深入探究各因素之间的交互作用。     

The Indirect Effects of Adolescent Psychopathic Traits on Aggression Through Social-Cognitive Factors

Psychopathic traits have been shown to designate youth who are at-risk for varied forms of aggression. The present study examined the indirect effects of social-cognitive factors (i.e., hostility and general approval of aggression) in the association between psychopathic traits (i.e., callous-unemotional traits, narcissism) and two functions of adolescent aggression (i.e., reactive, proactive). Participants were 209 (178 males, 31 females) adolescents aged 16 to 19 attending a residential program for youth who have dropped out of high school. Using a cross-sectional design, participants completed self-report measures of callous-unemotional traits (i.e., callousness, uncaring, unemotional), narcissism, aggression, hostility, and approval of aggression. Results indicated significant indirect effects of callousness on both functions of aggression through hostility. Similarly, there were significant indirect effects of narcissism on both functions of aggression through hostility. Significant indirect effects were also evident for general approval of aggression in the relations between callous-unemotional traits (both callous and uncaring dimensions) and both functions of aggression, and between narcissism and both functions of aggression. These results suggest the importance of examining social-cognitive processes insofar as they may contribute to the relation between psychopathic traits and aggression in youth and serve as possible targets of intervention.     

Pathological personality facets and emotion (dys)regulation in gambling disorder

A number of researches showed high prevalence of personality disorders among addicted gamblers. However, there are still few studies investigating the role of pathological personality facets in Gambling Disorder (GD). Moreover, the nature of the relationship between GD and pathological personality is not clear. We administered to a group of addicted gamblers (N = 79) and a group of healthy participants (N = 101) a battery of self-report questionnaires encompassing the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), The Personality Inventory for DSM-V (PID-5), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Analyses of variance showed that addicted gamblers, compared to healthy participants, scored higher on most of the subscales of the DERS, on the Suppression Dimension of the ERQ and on the five main domains of the PID-5 whereas they obtained lower scores on the Reappraisal subscale of the ERQ. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that some specific facets of pathological personality, emotion dysregulation and lack of cognitive reappraisal, significantly predict GD's severity. Finally, emotion dysregulation levels and lack of cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between these and GD's severity. Our results confirmed the central roles played by both pathological personality and deficit in emotion regulation capacities in GD. Specifically, Impulsivity, Lack of Perseverance and Suspiciousness may be important predictors of GD severity. Moreover, emotion dysregulation and lack of adaptive emotion regulation strategies partially explained such relationship. As such, training for emotion regulation abilities appears strategically useful in the treatment of addicted gamblers with pathological personality traits.     

Personality and its links to quality of life: Mediating effects of emotion regulation and self-efficacy beliefs

We investigated the relationship between personality and quality of life (QoL) considering emotion regulation and self-efficacy beliefs as mediating factors. A total of 409 participants from the French-speaking regions of Switzerland and from France completed questionnaires on personality, emotion regulation, self-efficacy beliefs, and QoL. Our findings revealed that specific personality traits have significant direct and indirect effects on QoL, mediated by emotion regulation and self-efficacy. Particularly, neuroticism was strongly and negatively related to emotion regulation and QoL, but not significantly linked to self-efficacy, whereas extraversion and conscientiousness were positively associated with all variables. This is the first study to demonstrate that both emotion regulation and self-efficacy are important mechanisms that link specific personality traits to QoL, suggesting that they channel and modulate the personality effects. However, more work is needed to understand these relationships in more detail (e.g., how the personality traits concurrently influence each other as well as emotion regulation and self-efficacy).     

Examination of the Association Among Personality Traits,Anxiety Sensitivity,and Cannabis Use Motives in a Community Sample

Personality factors, such as neuroticism, are important for understanding motives for cannabis use; however, few studies have examined the role of neuroticism in the context of other personality factors, or possible mechanisms accounting for an association between neuroticism and motives for use. The present study examined concurrent associations between personality traits (i.e., conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) and cannabis use motives, and the role of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in the association between neuroticism and coping cannabis use motives. Seventy young adults endorsing past-month cannabis use (58.6 % female, M _age = 20.91) completed self-report measures. Linear regressions were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between personality factors and cannabis use motives. Higher levels of neuroticism, but no other personality traits, were significantly associated with greater coping (β = 45, p < .01) and expansion (β = 0.29, p = <.05) motives. Bootstrap analysis (10,000 re-samples) revealed that a significant portion of the relationship between neuroticism and coping motives was explained by AS (point estimate = 0.029, PB 95 % CI: 0.0089 to 0.0615). Greater neuroticism may result in heightened sensitivity to arousal, which may then increase motivation to use cannabis to alleviate such arousal.     

Callous-unemotional and borderline traits in nonclinical adolescents: Personality profiles and relations to antisocial behaviors

Callous-unemotional and borderline traits, antisocial behaviors, depressive symptoms and social anxiety were assessed in 972 high-school students. Cluster analysis yielded four groups: a low traits group, a second group that was above the mean in callous-unemotional traits and below the mean in borderline traits (moderate callous-unemotional traits cluster), a third group that was well above the mean in borderline traits but low on callous-unemotional traits (borderline traits cluster), and a fourth group that was high on both traits (high traits cluster). The high traits cluster was characterized by the highest level of antisocial behaviors and shared with the borderline traits cluster a high level of depressive symptoms and social anxiety. The moderate callous-unemotional traits cluster and the borderline traits cluster had similar levels of antisocial behaviors that were higher than those of the low traits cluster. This study suggests that there is a significant minority of non-clinical adolescents characterized by the presence of both callous-unemotional and borderline traits, and higher levels of antisocial behaviors and emotional distress.     

老年人日常人际问题解决中的悲伤情绪体验和情绪调节策略: 年龄和人格特质的作用

考察了日常人际问题解决中老年人的悲伤情绪体验和情绪调节策略与青年人的差异,以及年龄和人格特质的作用。共45名老年人和59名青年人接受半结构化访谈和人格特质测量。结果表明：（1）以教育水平为协变量的方差分析表明,老年人和青年人的悲伤情绪体验没有显著差异。老年人的被动情绪调节策略的使用和青年人存在显著差异;（2）老年人的被动情绪调节策略不但与年龄有关,而且与悲伤情绪体验有关。悲伤情绪体验可以显著预测其被动情绪调节策略使用;（3）老年人的悲伤情绪体验与人格特质神经质维度存在显著正相关;（4）老年人与年轻人的被动情绪调节策略都与悲伤情绪有关,但老年人的被动情绪调节策略不能由人格特质显著预测,而青年人的被动调节策略还可以由人格特质内外向维度显著预测。人格特质的内外向维度对老年人和青年人的前摄性情绪调节策略的预测效应是一致的。最后针对老年人的悲伤情绪体验和情绪调节策略的意义进行了讨论。     

Internalizing problems and their impact on the relation between callous-unemotional traits,narcissism, and aggression

Narcissism and callous-unemotional (CU) traits have demonstrated relations with youth aggression across studies. However, different forms of narcissism and internalizing problems may exacerbate the relation between CU traits and aggression. To that end, the current study examined the degree to which interactions among internalizing problems, CU traits, and dimensions of narcissism related to aggression in a sample of 219 adolescents (83.1% males), ages 16–19, enrolled in a military-style residential program. Consistent with previous research, psychopathy-linked narcissism significantly moderated the relation between CU traits and aggression. Addtionally, self-reported aggression was highest among adolescents who endorsed high levels of CU traits, psychopathy-linked narcissism, and internalizing problems. The same pattern of results was not evident for other forms of narcissism. These results suggest that internalizing problems further increase the probability of aggression among adolescents with psychopathic tendencies (i.e., CU traits, psychopathy-linked narcissism). Further implications are discussed.     

Identity,ideology, and personality: Examining moderators of affective polarization in New Zealand

Affective polarization (i.e., differences in evaluations of the in-party and out-party) has important implications for political outcomes including civic engagement and partisan-motivated attitudes and behaviours. In this study, we add to the burgeoning literature on affective polarization by examining moderators of the effect of in-party support on out-party opposition across the three main political parties in New Zealand. Using a large national probability sample of adults (N = 19,078), we assessed the effects of social demographics, Big-Five personality traits, liberal-conservative ideology, political identity centrality, and weekly news exposure on the relationship between in-party and out-party support. Results show political identity centrality is the strongest and most consistent moderator. The effects of some other moderators (e.g., personality, news exposure) are party-specific.     

The Instrumental Role of Personality Traits: Using Mixture Structural Equation Modeling to Investigate Individual Differences in the Relationships Between the Big Five Traits and Life Satisfaction

Adopting a social-cognitive view of personality, this study investigated individual differences in the direct (i.e., temperamental) and indirect (i.e., instrumental) effects of the Big Five traits on life satisfaction. For that purpose, we examined a process model in which domain-based emotional experiences mediated the instrumental effects of personality traits. Using mixture structural equation modeling (n = 2682 adults) we found that the direct effects of neuroticism and extraversion were invariant across individuals, whereas the instrumental effects of the Big Five traits varied across two unobserved subgroups. In one of these subgroups (60 %), conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, and neuroticism had relatively larger effects on domain-based affect and life satisfaction. In a second subgroup (40 %), extraversion was comparatively more relevant for explaining domain-based affect and life satisfaction. Our findings provide evidence that the instrumental role of personality traits and judgmental processes may act in accord to promote subjective well-being.     

Trait impulsivity and callous-unemotional traits as predictors of inhibitory control and risky choices among high-risk adolescents

Trait impulsivity and callous-unemotional traits are associated with behavioural problems among high-risk adolescents. While both are known to influence behaviour, the nature of their expression in high-risk behaviours, particularly those related to inhibitory control, is not well understood. In the current, preliminary study, we examined whether and how these traits predicted deficits in behaviour driven by bottom-up, automatic versus deliberate, top-down inhibitory processes among high-risk adolescents. Two go/no-go task variants, emotional and non-emotional, were used to assess reactive response inhibition, and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task was used to assess the ability to resist deliberate risky choices. The results showed that the two types of self-reported trait measures were differentially associated with performance on the two types of behavioural inhibition tasks. Trait impulsivity predicted non-emotional inhibitory control whereas callous-unemotional traits predicted risky choices. The results also showed that the emotions task elicited slower reaction times and higher false alarm rates than did the letters task, and that participants had greater difficulty inhibiting responses to negatively than to positively valenced no-go stimuli. While preliminary, the results suggest that the interplay between trait impulsivity and callous-unemotional traits is an important determinant of inhibitory behaviour in this high-risk adolescents.