Todorov Jessica J, Devine Rory T, De Brito Stephane A
Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.
Centre for Developmental Science, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Mar;146:105049. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105049. Epub 2023 Jan 19.
Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., lack of remorse or guilt, callous lack of empathy, deficient concern for the feelings of others) in youth with conduct problems confer risk for a particularly severe and persistent form of antisocial behaviour. Previous research has linked childhood maltreatment as a potential risk factor for CU traits, both primary (i.e., genetically underpinned) and secondary (i.e., environmentally influenced) variants, but findings have been inconsistent, and the association has not yet been tested in a meta-analysis. To address this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the nature and strength of the associations between childhood maltreatment and its subtypes with CU traits and potential variants (i.e., primary and secondary CU traits). A systematic search identified 29 eligible studies including 9,894 participants (42% female) between the ages of 3 and 18 years (M=14.22 years, SD = 1.07). Results revealed a significant moderate positive association between childhood maltreatment and CU traits. All subtypes of maltreatment bar sexual abuse were significantly associated with CU traits. However, it was not possible to compare primary and secondary CU traits directly due to inconsistencies in how they are defined. The limitations posed by current research signal the need for clinical and operational guidelines on how to define primary and secondary CU traits. Additionally, prospective longitudinal, genetically informed research is needed to clarify if maltreatment is a causal risk factor for CU traits.
品行有问题的青少年所具有的冷酷无情（CU）特质（即缺乏悔恨或内疚感、冷酷无情且缺乏同理心、对他人感受缺乏关注）会使其面临一种特别严重且持续的反社会行为风险。先前的研究已将童年期受虐待视为CU特质的一个潜在风险因素，包括原发性（即由基因决定）和继发性（即受环境影响）两种类型，但研究结果并不一致，且这种关联尚未在一项荟萃分析中得到验证。为填补这一空白，我们进行了一项荟萃分析，以评估童年期受虐待及其亚型与CU特质及潜在类型（即原发性和继发性CU特质）之间关联的性质和强度。一项系统检索确定了29项符合条件的研究，包括9894名年龄在3至18岁之间（平均年龄M = 14.22岁，标准差SD = 1.07）的参与者（42%为女性）。结果显示，童年期受虐待与CU特质之间存在显著的中度正相关。除性虐待外，所有虐待亚型均与CU特质显著相关。然而，由于原发性和继发性CU特质定义上的不一致，无法直接对二者进行比较。当前研究存在的局限性表明，需要制定关于如何定义原发性和继发性CU特质的临床和操作指南。此外，还需要进行前瞻性纵向研究以及基于基因信息的研究，以明确虐待是否是CU特质的一个因果风险因素。
