Neural signatures of the development of antisocial behaviours and callous-unemotional traits among youth: The moderating role of parental support.

Comorbidity of antisocial behaviours (AB) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits characterizes a subgroup of youth at risk for chronic and severe AB in adulthood. Although aberrant neural response to facial emotion confers heightened risk for AB and CU traits, the behavioural effect of this neural response varies by family context. The present study examines the effects of neural response to emotional faces, parental support and the interaction between the two as predictors of AB and CU traits in a longitudinal sample of preadolescents (N  = 11,883; M  = 9.5; 47.8% female). Low CU youth who evinced attenuated response to fearful faces within the left superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus showed smaller decreases of AB over time; these associations did not extend to high CU youth. Among high CU youth reporting low parental support, blunted response to fearful faces within the bilateral inferior parietal sulcus predicted smaller decreases of AB. Study findings highlight neurobehavioural differences between youth with high and low CU traits, as well as the interacting roles of negative face processing and parental support in the development of AB.