Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Heritability of antisocial behaviour at 9: do callous-unemotional traits matter?
Essi Viding1, Alice P Jones, Paul J Frick
1Department of Psychology, University College London, and SGDP Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK. e.viding@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
A previous finding from our group indicated that teacher-rated antisocial behaviour (AB) among 7-year-olds is particularly heritable in the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Using a sample of 1865 same-sex twin pairs, we employed DeFries-Fulker extremes analysis to investigate whether teacher-rated AB with/without CU traits also shows aetiological differences among 9-year-olds. Furthermore, we assessed whether the differences in the magnitude of heritability would be evident even when hyperactive symptoms were controlled for in the statistical analysis. AB among 9-year-olds was more heritable with than without concomitant CU. The heritability difference was even more pronounced in magnitude when hyperactive symptoms were controlled. CU traits thus appear to index one valid way of sub-typing children with early-onset AB.
Related Concept Videos
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Behavioral Characteristics and...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...
Empathy
Causes of Social Behavior III: Biological and Environmental Influences
Dark Triad and Person Perception

