Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education.
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania.
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2022 Jul-Aug;51(4):556-565. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2021.1881904. Epub 2021 Mar 26.
Callous-unemotional traits (CU) traits are characterized by low empathy, guilt, and reduced sensitivity to others' feelings, along with a reduced drive for social affiliation. However, little is known about the relationships between CU traits and social affiliation in the school context, or the influence of gender on these associations. This study tested reciprocal associations between CU traits and school-based affiliative relationships and explored gender as a potential moderator.
The sample included South Korean children aged 10 to 12 years (N = 218, M = 11.03, SD = .65, 52% boys). Children reported on CU traits, antisocial behavior, teacher-student relationship quality, and peer affiliation. Three-wave longitudinal cross-lagged models tested reciprocal associations between CU traits and affiliation with both teachers and peers, with multi-group modeling employed to test the moderating effect of gender.
Higher CU traits at time 1 predicted decreases in teacher affiliation at time 2 controlling for CU traits, teacher-child affiliation, and antisocial behavior at time 1, while lower teacher-child affiliation at time 2 predicted increases in CU traits at time 3 accounting for CU traits, teacher-child affiliation, and antisocial behavior at time 2. However, there were no reciprocal associations between CU traits and teacher affiliation nor significant associations between CU traits and peer affiliation. Gender did not moderate any pathways between CU traits and teacher or peer affiliation.
Findings indicate CU traits may reduce teacher-child affiliation, potentially escalating risk for further increases in CU traits. Thus, teacher-child affiliation may represent an important target for school-based intervention for children with elevated CU traits regardless of gender.
冷酷无情特质（CU）的特征是同理心、内疚感和对他人感受的敏感性降低，以及对社交联系的动力降低。然而，人们对 CU 特质与学校背景下的社交联系之间的关系，以及性别对这些关联的影响知之甚少。本研究检验了 CU 特质与基于学校的亲和关系之间的相互关系，并探讨了性别作为潜在的调节因素。
该样本包括韩国 10 至 12 岁的儿童（N=218，M=11.03，SD=.65，52%为男孩）。儿童报告 CU 特质、反社会行为、师生关系质量和同伴关系。三波纵向交叉滞后模型检验了 CU 特质与与教师和同伴的亲和关系之间的相互关系，采用多组建模检验性别作为调节因素的作用。
在控制 CU 特质、师生亲和度和反社会行为时，1 时间点的 CU 特质越高，2 时间点的教师亲和度越低；而在控制 CU 特质、师生亲和度和反社会行为时，2 时间点的师生亲和度越低，3 时间点的 CU 特质越高。然而，CU 特质与教师亲和度之间没有相互关系，CU 特质与同伴亲和度之间也没有显著关系。性别并没有调节 CU 特质与教师或同伴亲和度之间的任何关系。
研究结果表明，CU 特质可能会降低师生亲和度，从而可能进一步增加 CU 特质。因此，无论性别如何，师生亲和度都可能成为针对具有较高 CU 特质的儿童进行学校干预的一个重要目标。
