Adrian Marian ROSAN*, Carmen COSTEA-BARLUIU
Babes-Bolyai Universitry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Abstract
Our study examined the associations between callous-unemotional traits (eg., absence of guilt and remorse, reduced empathy, toughness towards others), peer aggression and psychopathic traits in a sample of 125 adolescent boys, aged between 14 and 19 years, from two detention centers. The results confirmed the association between callousness and antisocial behavior, while unemotional traits were associated with impulsivity. We found a strong association between callous-unemotional traits and both
proactive and reactive aggression, as well as between callousness and psychopathic traits, such as depression/ anxiety, irritability, somatic complaints and thought disturbance. Our investigation of callousunemotional traits confirms evidence from other studies showing the relevance of the traits for antisocial behavior and psychopathology.
Keywords: aggressive and antisocial behavior, callous-unemotional traits, narcissism, impulsivity, psychopathology