Socioeconomic Status and Psychopathic Traits in a Community Sample of Youth

Attachment to others and callous-unemotional traits in a sample of high school students

Although several evidences suggested the importance to consider the quality of relationships with others as a key element for the understanding of callous-unemotional traits in youths, to date few studies investigated the specific role of youths’ attachment. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between attachment styles and callous-unemotional traits within a community sample of 786 high school students (41.48% females, M age = 16.90 years, SD = 1.45 years). A linear hierarchical regression approach showed that, over and above gender, age, and levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems, unique variance in callous-unemotional traits was accounted for by low confidence, high discomfort with closeness, and low preoccupation with relationships. Moreover, focusing on specific subcomponents of callous-unemotional traits, it was found that high levels of perceiving relationships as secondary were related to the callous-lack of empathy component, while higher levels in discomfort with closeness were associated to the restricted affect component. Emerged results were discussed within the context of the Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward (STAR) Model, that was recently advanced to in-depth understand callous-unemotional traits in children and adolescents.

Patterns and Correlates of Changes in Emotional and Behavioral Problems Among Children with Congenital Heart Disease

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to examine patterns of changes in emotional and behavioral problems among children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and investigate associated factors in different domains.

METHOD

The study sample comprised 327 pairs of children with CHD (aged 1.5-12 yrs) and their parents who participated in 2 waves of a survey in Taiwan from 2017 to 2019. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to evaluate the children's emotional and behavioral problems during both waves. The scores were later used to determine the patterns of changes in emotional and behavioral problems. Multinomial logistic regression was then applied to examine factors associated with varied patterns of changes in emotional and behavioral problems.

RESULTS

Five patterns of changes in emotional and behavioral problems were identified: "persistent normal," "initial problematic," "worsening," "persistent problematic," and "subclinical." Among the factors examined, parenting stress was consistently associated with different patterns of change in emotional and behavioral problems. Specifically, children with parents who had higher levels of parenting stress were more likely to belong to the "initial problematic," "persistent problematic," or "subclinical" groups than to the "persistent normal" group. Other significant factors included sex, number of surgeries, and perceived health of parents.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the potential role of parenting stress in changes in emotional and behavioral problems. Accordingly, intervention programs aimed at relieving parenting stress may help reduce the development and worsening of emotional and behavioral problems among children with CHD.

Correlates of psychopathy in a Tunisian sample of incarcerated women

BACKGROUND

Considerable effort has been devoted to elucidating correlates of psychopathy in males, but only few researchers have turned their attention to this field in female counterparts, with most of the research in this field having been driven from western countries. We aimed to explore psychopathic traits, impulsiveness and psychiatric symptoms that characterize a Tunisian female prison population.

METHOD

Data were collected in a cross-sectional design during September 2017. The sample was comprised of 100 adult females who were incarcerated at the "Manouba Women's Prison" at the time of the survey. The Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and The Brief Symptom Inventory were used.

RESULTS

In the univariate analysis, socioeconomic level (p = .001), tobacco use (p = .001), poly drug use (p = .014) and physically aggressive behaviors in the 6 months before incarceration (p = .043) were significantly associated with psychopathy total scores. After multivariable adjustment, motor impulsiveness (β = 0.426, p < .01) and phobic anxiety (β = 0.284, p < .05) contributed significantly to the variance of psychopathy total scores.

CONCLUSION

The current findings not only add to the growing body of literature on female psychopathy, but also help inform decision making about mental health-related programs and policies in female prison settings in underdeveloped and underrepresented countries similar to our sociocultural context.

Socioeconomic disparities in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures and their caregivers

OBJECTIVE

There is no information on disparities of patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and their caregivers. The objective of this exploratory study is to compare patients with PNES and caregivers with low socioeconomic status (SES) with those of high SES for disparities in healthcare use, seizures, medication adverse effects, psychosocial impact, and knowledge about epilepsy.

METHODS

Patients with PNES and caregivers completed surveys about the aforementioned outcomes during their Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) admission. Associations were evaluated using SES as a binary independent variable and the patient- and caregiver-related outcomes as dependent variables.

RESULTS

Forty-three patients and 28 caregivers were recruited. The majority of patients were on average 36 years old, single women, unemployed, with some college education. The majority had PNES for 8 years averaging 20 seizures per month and were maintained on ≥2 antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) prior to their EMU admission. Most caregivers were first-degree relatives with a mean age of 43 years, married employed women of higher educational attainment, typically cohabitating with the patients. Low SES patients showed poorer knowledge about epilepsy (p < 0.0001) and higher anxiety levels (p = 0.03). Conversely, high SES patients demonstrated poorer social functioning (p = 0.04). High SES caregivers showed higher caregiving burden (p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

There are noteworthy disparities in patients with PNES of different SES and their caregivers. Identification of those disparities is a critical step in the creation of appropriate interventions to address them.

Factor structure and clinical utility of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory in an inpatient sample

Previous research on the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI; Andershed et al., 2002) has identified a three-factor structure: Interpersonal, Affective, and Behavioral. The present study sought to test this three-factor structure and broader psychometric properties of the YPI in a sample of 328 adolescents undergoing inpatient psychiatric care. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the hypothesized three-factor structure of the YPI previously documented in community samples. Exploratory analyses reported on modification indices, gender invariance, and fit of a bifactor model. Additionally, the clinical utility of the YPI was examined by examined the relation between the YPI and the antisocial personality scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI-A-ANT; Morey, 2007). Confirmatory Factor Analysis results did not replicate the previously documented three-factor structure in the inpatient sample; a bifactor model continued to display poor (albeit improved) fit. Still, there was a strong association between the YPI (total and factor scores) and PAI-A-ANT, as such the YPI accurately identified adolescents with clinically significant antisocial traits. A cut-off score is presented for the YPI total score.