PROJECT SUMMARY
Conduct problem (CP) symptoms in early childhood, including aggression and defiance, are
associated with adverse social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes extending into adolescence and
adulthood. The presence of callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors among children with CPs
exacerbates these negative outcomes and reduces the effectiveness of evidence-based treatments.
Given the severe negative trajectories and high societal costs associated with early CP and CU, it is
important to accurately identify young children exhibiting CU behaviors to inform early intervention
efforts for children with CPs. Traditional measures of CU behaviors exhibit some inconsistencies,
necessitating a more nuanced multimodal approach. This study utilizes multiple units of analysis,
including physiological measures (i.e., heart rate variability), parent/teacher ratings, and observational
coding, to assess levels of CU among young children with and without CPs.
Emotional development in early childhood, encompassing empathy acquisition, is shaped by
direct interactions with parents and environmental observations. Parents play a crucial role in
socializing their children's emotional experiences through supportive or non-supportive reactions,
discussions, and emotional expressiveness. Parental emotion socialization, particularly emotion talk,
is considered a crucial factor influencing child outcomes. Positive emotion socialization is linked to
favorable outcomes, including less severe symptoms of CP and lower levels of CU behaviors,
highlighting the importance of parental influence. While cross-sectional research establishes the
impact of parental emotion socialization on child empathy and CP severity, the current study aims to
investigate the longitudinal association (across the course of one year), specifically examining
whether it can buffer the negative effects of CU on later CP severity.
The study involves secondary data analysis from a sample of children with and without CPs
(n=323), exploring multiple measures of CU behaviors across three timepoints. Aim 1 seeks to
determine if physiological functioning, observed empathy, and parent/teacher ratings of CU behaviors
converge into a single latent factor. Aim 2 will examine intra- and interindividual variability in the CU
latent factor at baseline and over time, and its predictability of CP severity on year later. Lastly, Aim 3
focuses on parental emotion socialization and its potential impact on the link between CU behaviors
and later CP severity.
