Abstract
Explanations of child aggression and antisocial behaviour have traditionally focussed on pathways via poor parenting
and family dysfunction. There is evidence, however, that
more extreme and chronic forms may also be driven by child
temperamental characteristics relating to deficits in amenability
to socialisation practices and empathic responding. At
extremes, children with early psychopathic traits (callous,
lacking in empathy, impulsive, punishment insensitive) may
be at risk for ongoing problems and may not respond to traditional
parenting or cognitivehehavioural interventions. This
talk presents results from several large studies looking at the
measurement of psychopathic and empathic traits in young
children, their relationship to other measures of adjustment in
the child and family, and their influences on treatment strategies.
A clear message emerges that child traits need to be
considered in conjunction with more traditional adversity
models in clinical practice and research with antisocial and
aggressive behaviour in young people.
and family dysfunction. There is evidence, however, that
more extreme and chronic forms may also be driven by child
temperamental characteristics relating to deficits in amenability
to socialisation practices and empathic responding. At
extremes, children with early psychopathic traits (callous,
lacking in empathy, impulsive, punishment insensitive) may
be at risk for ongoing problems and may not respond to traditional
parenting or cognitivehehavioural interventions. This
talk presents results from several large studies looking at the
measurement of psychopathic and empathic traits in young
children, their relationship to other measures of adjustment in
the child and family, and their influences on treatment strategies.
A clear message emerges that child traits need to be
considered in conjunction with more traditional adversity
models in clinical practice and research with antisocial and
aggressive behaviour in young people.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 21-21 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Journal | Australian Journal of Psychology |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | S1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | 37th Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society - Gold Coast, Australia Duration: 27 Sep 2002 → 10 Oct 2002 |