Can callous-unemotional (CU) traits be acquired? Tests in a longitudinal sample spanning late childhood through adolescence

Background. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., “Limited Prosocial Emotions”) characterize a particularly severe group of antisocial youth. “Secondary” CU traits, as opposed to “primary,” are distinguished by co-occurring anxiety and are theorized to reflect an acquired phenotype that develops through an interaction between heightened emotional sensitivity and prolonged adversity exposure. The aim of this study was to test this pathway in a large, diverse sample spanning late childhood (age 9-10) to middle adolescence. Methods. Data were drawn from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, with youth (N = 11, 880; Mage = 10; 48% female) assessed annually over five timepoints. Retrospective and prospective analyses examined the effects of emotional sensitivity and different forms of adversity on the development of CU traits. Results. Retrospective analyses showed no main or interactive effects of emotional sensitivity and adversity during late childhood in predicting secondary CU traits by adolescence. Instead, a significant interaction (B = .21, SE = .06, p < .001, RRR = 1.24) was found such that higher overall adversity and emotional sensitivity together increased risk for primary, not secondary, CU traits. Prospective analyses among emotionally sensitive (≥90th percentile) youth with no CU traits (n = 365, age ~10) similarly showed no forms of cumulative adversity predicted increases in or the onset of “elevated” CU traits after four years. Conclusions. Findings did not support a distinct adversity-linked pathway to secondary CU traits via emotional sensitivity. Instead, results were consistent with alternative models in which secondary CU traits reflect a comorbid profile marked by broader clinical severity or overlapping liabilities (e.g., negative affectivity, internalizing risk).