General and maladaptive personality dimensions and the assessment of callous-unemotional traits in adolescence

Associations between callous-unemotional traits and general and maladaptive personality dimensions are examined in adolescence. More specifically, it was investigated to what extent general and maladaptive personality dimensions can account for the variance in callous-unemotional (CU) scores. Adolescents (N = 509) and their mothers completed the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU; Frick, 2003), the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC; Mervielde & De Fruyt, 1999, 2002), and the Dimensional Personality Symptom Item Pool (DIPSI; De Clercq, De Fruyt, Van Leeuwen, & Mervielde, 2006). Both personality measures accounted for substantial variance in ICU scores and the overall CU profile in terms of the HiPIC and DIPSI was consistent with psychopathy conceptualizations and consistent across informant. Implications for the assessment of early externalizing trait pathology are discussed.