Division of Psychology and Language Sciences,University College London,Gower St, London, WC1E 6BT,UK.
Psychol Med. 2018 Mar;48(4):566-577. doi: 10.1017/S0033291717002847. Epub 2017 Oct 16.
Psychopathy is an adult condition that incurs substantial societal and individual costs. Here we review neurocognitive and genetically informative studies that shed light on how and why this condition emerges. Children cannot present with psychopathy. However, the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits can distinguish a group of children who are at elevated risk of psychopathy in adulthood. These children display diminished empathy and guilt and show attenuated brain activation to distress cues in others. Genetically informative studies indicate that individual differences in CU traits show moderate-to-strong heritability, but that protective environmental factors can counter heritable risk. On the basis of the extant research findings, we speculate on what might represent the priorities for research over the next decade. We also consider the clinical implications of these research findings. In particular, we consider the importance of delineating what precisely works for children with CU traits (and their parents) and the ways in which intervention and prevention programs may be optimized to improve engagement as well as clinical outcomes.
精神变态是一种成年疾病，会给社会和个人带来巨大的成本。在这里，我们回顾了神经认知和具有遗传信息的研究，这些研究揭示了这种情况是如何以及为何出现的。儿童不会出现精神变态。然而，无情-情感缺失（CU）特征的存在可以区分出一群在成年后患精神变态风险较高的儿童。这些孩子表现出同理心和内疚感的减少，对他人的痛苦线索的大脑激活也减弱。具有遗传信息的研究表明，CU 特征的个体差异具有中度到高度的遗传性，但保护型环境因素可以抵消遗传风险。基于现有的研究结果，我们推测在未来十年中，哪些研究可能是优先事项。我们还考虑了这些研究结果的临床意义。特别是，我们考虑了确定什么对具有 CU 特征的儿童（及其父母）有效以及如何优化干预和预防计划以提高参与度和临床结果的重要性。
