Measurement invariance of the inventory of Callous­Unemotional traits in different age groups from preschool age to late adolescence in Germany.

BACKGROUND: Callous-unemotional traits are associated with the development of severe behavior problems, delinquency, and psychopathy. Previous studies have repeatedly shown that CU traits may be present as early as preschool age, and they have consistently used the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) to assess CU traits in children and adolescents. A three-factor structure for the ICU has been widely endorsed. METHOD: The aim of our study is to compare the three-factor structure of the ICU in different age groups (preschool, middle childhood, early, and late adolescence) and to test for measurement invariance in a German sample of N = 2368 children and adolescents (M = 11.76 years; SD = 3.72). RESULTS: The results of our study indicate configural measurement invariance, suggesting that the ICU has the same structure in all age groups but with different meanings, parameters, and mean values in the groups. CONCLUSION: Accordingly, the ICU cannot be applied in the same way to children and adolescents of different age groups, which emphasizes the need for a more differentiated assessment.

Morality in middle childhood: the role of callous-unemotional traits and emotion regulation skills.

BACKGROUND: The development of morality is vital for fostering prosocial behavior and enhancing both individual and societal well-being. Clarifying what contextual and individual factors play a role in moral processes during childhood can contribute to our understanding of the development of morality. Given the previous acknowledgment of importance, yet lack of existing empirical findings, the study focused on the significance of callous-unemotional traits (i.e., an affective-interpersonal personality trait, related to psychopathy in adulthood) and emotion regulation (i.e., an essential part of socio-emotional competence, and a transdiagnostic factor in the development of psychopathology) for moral emotions and cognitions during middle childhood. The concrete aim was to examine direct and indirect effects of callous-unemotional trait dimensions (callousness, uncaring, unemotionality) onto immoral emotional attribution (i.e., feeling good after immoral decisions) and admissibility of immoral actions (i.e., evaluating immoral actions as being okay) via emotion regulation skills. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 194 children attending Grades 1 to 4, and their primary caregivers. The children completed the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits and caregivers completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist. The children were also presented with a set of moral dilemma vignettes, and asked about the emotions of protagonists who acted immoral, and the admissibility of their actions. RESULTS: Path-model analysis revealed (1) negative direct effects of emotion regulation skills onto immoral emotional attribution and admissibility of immoral actions, (2) positive direct effects of the dimensions callousness and uncaring onto immoral emotional attribution and admissibility of immoral actions, and (3) negative direct effects of dimensions callousness and uncaring onto emotion regulation skills. Indirect effects, indicating that emotion regulation skills mediate the association between the callous-unemotional trait dimensions and morality, were also found. CONCLUSION: The findings address a knowledge gap and indicate that emotion regulation skills, callousness, and uncaring play an important role in morality in middle childhood and should be included in frameworks of moral decision-making and development.