The two sides of CU traits: Testing maltreatment and psychopathic traits in the distinction of variants in adolescents in residential care

Child maltreatment has been consistently linked to the secondary variant of psychopathy, but studies using a person-based approach to explore its role, especially in highly vulnerable populations, are lacking. This study aims to identify profiles of adolescents in residential care based on child maltreatment and psychopathic traits, and to examine their relationship with the number of previous placements and developmental outcomes at two time points. The sample included 161 adolescents aged 12-18 (M = 15.22, SD = 1.59), with 77 adolescents followed up. Latent profile analysis identified four profiles: low-risk, primary psychopathy, secondary interpersonal/behavioral, and secondary affective. The primary psychopathy subgroup exhibited the highest levels of externalizing problems at T1 and T2, while the secondary interpersonal/behavioral group reported higher levels of child maltreatment, more previous placements, and greater trauma-related symptoms. The secondary affective subgroup showed a more adaptive adjustment compared to the other high psychopathy subgroups. These results are discussed.