Antisocial behaviour in children with and without callous-unemotional traits

More than 15 years of research have documented behavioural differences between callous-unemotional and non-callous subtypes of children with antisocial behaviour. Recent studies also suggest that children with callous-unemotional traits may be genetically vulnerable to antisocial behaviour, while those without callous-unemotional traits appear to have primarily environmental aetiology to their antisocial behaviour. Furthermore neurocognitive profiles differ between antisocial children with and without callous-unemotional traits. While the former group appears emotionally under-reactive, particularly to others' distress, the latter group may be emotionally over-reactive, particularly to perceived threat. In this review we provide an overview of the current evidence base with regard to callous-unemotional and non-callous subgroups of children with antisocial behaviour and discuss the implications of the current evidence base for prevention and intervention. This overview selectively focuses on recent advances in this area of research, as well as earlier studies where these help set the research context.