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Do neurocognitive deficits in decision making differentiate conduct disorder subtypes?

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Abstract

The present study aimed to test whether neurocognitive deficits involved in decision making underlie subtypes of conduct-disorder (CD) differentiated on the basis of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Eighty-five participants (M age = 10.94 years) were selected from a sample of 1200 children based on repeated assessment of CD and CU traits. Participants completed a multi-method battery of well-validated measures of risky decision making and associated constructs of selective attention and future orientation (Stroop, Stoplight, and Delay-Discounting Tasks). Findings indicated that impaired decision making, selective attention, and future orientation contribute to the antisocial presentations displayed by children with CD, irrespective of level of CU traits. Youth high on CU traits without CD showed less risky decision making, as indicated by their performance on the Stoplight laboratory task, than those high on both CD and CU traits, suggesting a potential protective factor against the development of antisocial behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Kostas A. Fanti & Maria-Zoe Hadjicharalambous

  2. School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Eva R. Kimonis

  3. Temple University, Philadelphia, USA

    Laurence Steinberg

  4. King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Laurence Steinberg

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  1. Kostas A. Fanti
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  2. Eva R. Kimonis
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  3. Maria-Zoe Hadjicharalambous
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  4. Laurence Steinberg
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Correspondence to Kostas A. Fanti.

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All human studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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Fanti, K.A., Kimonis, E.R., Hadjicharalambous, MZ. et al. Do neurocognitive deficits in decision making differentiate conduct disorder subtypes?. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 25, 989–996 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0822-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0822-9

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