Callous-unemotional traits and emotional awareness in youth

Background: Extant research proved that emotional characteristics associated with CU traits are different from emotional characteristics typically associated with behavior problems or showed by children without behavior problems and low in CU traits. Aim(s): This study further explored emotional correlates to CU traits by considering for the first time a multidimensional measure of emotional awareness concerning self-perception of both own internal emotional processes and others’ emotions. Methods: 668 Italian middle-school students (338 girls; mean age=154.63 months, SD=11.02 months) completed the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU), the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire (EAQ), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Data were analyzed using a hierarchical multiple regression approach. Results: Over and above levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems, negative associations between CU traits and emotional awareness were found. Specifically, unemotional was the only dimension of CU traits to be uniquely associated to three out of six dimensions of emotional awareness that were specifically focused on emotional processes concerning own emotions (i.e., differentiating emotions, verbal sharing of emotions, not hiding emotions). Moreover, a negative association between the proneness to attend and analyze others’ emotions and the callousness dimension of CU traits emerged. Conclusion: These results further confirmed that children high in CU traits present deficient emotional processing, and these deficits refer to both own and others emotions; moreover these results further highlighted the importance to separately consider different facets of CU traits and their role in youth’s life.