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The role of callous and unemotional traits in the diagnosis of conduct disorder
Author(s) -
Rowe Richard,
Maughan Barbara,
Moran Paul,
Ford Tamsin,
Briskman Jackie,
Goodman Robert
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02199.x
Subject(s) - conduct disorder , psychopathology , subtyping , psychology , mental health , clinical psychology , psychiatry , computer science , programming language
Background: Callous and unemotional (CU) traits might usefully subtype DSM‐IV conduct disorder (CD). We investigate this hypothesis in a large, nationally representative sample of 5–16‐year‐olds. We also examine the characteristics of children with high CU traits but without CD. Methods: Data come from the 2004 British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey including 7,977 children, 5,326 of whom were followed up after 3 years. DSM‐IV diagnoses of psychiatric disorder were based on parent, teacher and child report. CU traits were assessed by parent report. Results: Of the 2% of the sample who were diagnosed with DSM‐IV CD, 46.1% were high on CU traits. In addition, 2.9% of the sample were high on CU traits without CD. Children with CD and CU traits showed more severe behavioural disturbance and were at substantially higher risk of CD diagnosis 3 years later. Children high on CU traits without CD showed evidence of disturbed functioning. Conclusions: Subtyping CD using CU traits identifies children with more severe and persistent psychopathology. Children with high CU traits but no CD diagnosis require further investigation.