Zumbach Jelena, Rademacher Annika, Koglin Ute
Family Law Psychology, Psychologische Hochschule Berlin, Am Koellnischen Park 2, 10179, Berlin, Germany.
Faculty of Educational and Social Sciences, Department of Pedagogic and Rehabilitation Psychology, University of Oldenburg, Ammerlaender Heerstr. 114-118, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2021 May 20;15(1):24. doi: 10.1186/s13034-021-00376-4.
Extensive empirical evidence suggests that high Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits in childhood and adolescence can reliably identify individuals at risk for antisocial outcomes. The present study addresses research gaps by investigating the factor structure of CU traits in children at preschool age.
The sample includes 371 children (49.6% female, M age = 4.7, SD = 0.69). Using the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional-Traits (ICU), six alternative confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to find the best fitting model for our preschool sample. Children's level of emotional competence and aggressive behavior was assed using a German questionnaire, the Behavior Rating Scales for Preschoolers (Verhaltensskalen für das Kindergartenalter, VSK) in a preschool teachers' rating. Post hoc cluster analytic strategies and ANOVA were applied to identify groups of children with regard to their combination of social-emotional competences and CU traits, and to examine associations with aggressive behavior.
Results indicate that a two-factor model revealed the best fit to our data, including a callous and an uncaring factor using 12 of the original 24 ICU items. Cluster analytic strategies reveal a risk group of children demonstrating high rates of callousness and uncaring combined with weak emotion knowledge/empathy and social competence. ANOVA shows that children in the risk group demonstrate the highest levels of aggressive behavior.
Group characteristics indicate that the construct of CU traits in early childhood may be nothing other than a social-emotional developmental deficit.
大量实证证据表明，儿童期和青少年期的高冷酷无情（CU）特质能够可靠地识别出具有反社会行为后果风险的个体。本研究通过调查学龄前儿童CU特质的因素结构来填补研究空白。
样本包括371名儿童（49.6%为女性，平均年龄 = 4.7岁，标准差 = 0.69）。使用冷酷无情特质量表（ICU）进行了六项替代验证性因素分析，以找到最适合我们学龄前样本的模型。儿童的情绪能力水平和攻击行为通过一份德语问卷《学龄前儿童行为评定量表》（Verhaltensskalen für das Kindergartenalter, VSK）由幼儿园教师进行评定。采用事后聚类分析策略和方差分析来识别在社会情感能力和CU特质组合方面的儿童群体，并检验与攻击行为的关联。
结果表明，一个双因素模型最适合我们的数据，该模型使用了原始24个ICU项目中的12个，包括一个冷酷因素和一个漠不关心因素。聚类分析策略揭示了一组风险儿童，他们表现出高冷酷和漠不关心的比率，同时情感知识/同理心和社会能力较弱。方差分析表明，风险组中的儿童表现出最高水平的攻击行为。
群体特征表明，幼儿期CU特质的结构可能只不过是一种社会情感发展缺陷。
