Why do some children develop serious and persistent anti-social behaviour?

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1 Why do some children develop serious and persistent anti-social behaviour? Prof Essi Viding Professor of Developmental Psychopathology,

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3 Ted Bundy ( ) Serial killer Ted Bundy s description of himself: "..the most cold-hearted son of a bitch you'll ever meet. Ted Bundy s defense lawyer s decription of him: "Ted, was the very definition of heartless evil.

4 What characterises individuals with psychopathy? Lack of remorse / guilt Shallow affect (genuine emotion is short-lived and egocentric) Superficial charm Grandiose sense of self-worth Pathological lying Manipulation of others

5 ?

6 Psychological Environment Behavioural

7 Psychological Environment Behavioural

8 Early behavioural warning signs of children at risk for psychopathy: Lack of remorse and guilt Lack of empathy Shallow affect Manipulation of others for own gain Sense of being more important than others Callous-Unemotional CU traits These traits are predictive of persistent, violent and severe antisocial behaviour/psychopathy in adolescence and adulthood Frick et al., 1994; 2014

9 Children with conduct problems Low Callous-Unemotional Traits Often aggress when feel under threat Feel bad about hurting others Can have high levels of anxiety High Callous-Unemotional Traits Engage in proactive aggression Lack guilt Do not worry about hurting others Often have low levels of anxiety Frick & Viding, 2009

10 Psychological Environment Behavioural

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13 Affective processing in children with conduct problems and HIGH callous-unemotional traits Lack of recognition and reactions to other people s emotions Report feeling less fear themselves Less responsive to punishment

14 Affective processing in children with conduct problems and LOW callous-unemotional traits Hostile Attribution Bias Oversensitive to perceived anger (sometimes even when stimuli are neutral)

15 Psychological Environment Behavioural

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18 Masked Fear Task Fear Condition Target Backward Mask Target Calm Condition Backward Mask vs. 17ms 183ms 300ms ISI 17ms 183ms 300ms ISI

19 Contrast estimates Fear>Calm The higher the level of callous-unemotional traits, the less active the amygdala is to fearful faces ICU Score Viding, Sebastian, Dadds, Lockwood, Cecil, de Brito, & McCrory, AJP

20 and to scenarios showing other people in distress.

21 and to scenarios showing other people in distress Sebastian, McCrory, Cecil, Lockwood, De Brito, Fontaine & Viding (2012), JAMA Psychiatry

22 Shallow affect Lack of empathy Psychological Environment Behavioural

23 Psychological Environment Behavioural

24 Probing the aetiology: Classical twin design Identical Monozygotic Nonidentical Dizygotic

25 Twin method Genetic influence (A) = identical twins > non- identical twins MZ DZ MZ DZ

26 Twin method Shared environmental influences (C)= Non-identical twins more similar than expected by genetic relatedness Environmental influences that make 10 family members similar to each other 0 MZ DZ MZ DZ

27 Twin method Non-shared environmental influences (E) = Identical twins not 100% identical Environmental influences that make family members different from each other MZ DZ MZ DZ

28 Is there a difference in the origin conduct problems between those who have HIGH vs. LOW callous-unemotional traits? Conduct Problems HIGH callous-unemotional traits LOW callous-unemotional traits Genetic Shared E Non-shared E Genetic Shared E Non-shared E Viding, Blair, Moffitt, & Plomin, 2005, JCPP

29 What genes? What environments?

30 Risk genes may be different for children with HIGH vs. LOW callous-unemotional traits (Buckholtz & Meyer-Lindenberg, 2009; Viding & Jones, 2008) Conduct Problems HIGH callous-unemotional traits LOW callous-unemotional traits Genotypes conferring low emotional reactivity/arousal? Genotypes conferring high arousal and reactive aggression?

31 Risk environments may be different for children with HIGH vs. LOW callous-unemotional traits Conduct Problems HIGH callous-unemotional traits LOW callous-unemotional traits? Harsh and inconsistent parenting Maltreatment

32 Parental warmth protective against development of CP/HCU? (Viding & McCrory, 2015; Vagos, Ribeiro da Silva, Rijo, Brazao, 2016) Parenting and child focused interventions can have a positive effect for children with CP/HCU (Waller, Gardner, & Hyde; 2013; Wilkins, Waller, & Viding, 2016)

33 Adoption study (Hyde et al., 2016): Biological parents with severe antisocial behaviour were more likely to have adopted away offspring with high CU traits In line with the notion of genetic predisposition Warm adoptive parenting REDUCED risk for developing CU traits in children who have biological risk In line with the notion that genes are not destiny! Encouraging but adoptive families are a case of what can be, not a case of what is

34 CP/HCU may need: A longer treatment period More comprehensive support Treatment adjuncts suited to their neurocognitive profile

35 Why do some people become psychopaths?

36 Why do some people become psychopaths? Genetic vulnerability Environmental conditions that do not counteract the genetic risk or make it worse? Lack of emotional reactivity and empathy; insensitivity to punishment Psychological Environment Behavioural

37 We also know that not all children with conduct problems and HIGH callous-unemotional traits grow up to be adults with psychopathy We need longitudinal studies that combine different methodologies How does atypical emotionality develop over time? Can these children empathise under any circumstances? Can we help them see the world differently? Specific interventions are being developed

38 Acknowledgements TEDS, schools, families and children Developmental Risk & Resilience Unit Eamon McCrory, Lucy Foulkes, Philip Kelly, Rachael Lickley, Patricia Lockwood, Elizabeth O Nions, Jean-Baptiste Pingault, Vanessa Puetz, Sophie Raeder, Ruth Roberts, Ana Seara-Cardoso Former lab members Catherine Sebastian, Stephane de Brito, Marine Buon, Caroline Bradley, Laura Finlayson, Charlotte Cecil, Elena Rusconi, Chloe Thompson-Booth, Alice Jones, Nathalie Fontaine, Henrik Larsson, Sara Hodsoll, Zoe Hyde, Moran Cohn, Amy Palmer, Sophie Samuel Collaborators Robert Plomin,Geoff Bird, Jon Roiser, Francesca Happe, Fruhling Rijsdijk, Andrea Mechelli, Mark Dadds, Craig Neumann, Beata Tick Funding ESRC, MRC, British Academy, Royal Society, Waterloo

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