Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Program

Cognitive Neuroscience

Advisor

Yu Gao

Subject Categories

Cognitive Neuroscience

Keywords

psychophysiology, psychopathy, youth, callous-unemotional, primary, secondary

Abstract

Psychopathy is a cluster of personality traits marked by a pervasive callousness, lack of shame or remorse, deceitfulness, a persona of confidence and charm, shallow emotional connection, general lack of insight into their actions, and an absence of anxiety (Glenn & Raine, 2014; Hare, 2003). Research suggests that there are distinct etiological pathways to the development of psychopathic traits and that their responses to treatment are different (Craig et al., 2021; Yildrim & Derksen, 2015; Fleming et al., 2023). Primary variants show a low-fear, low-anxiety profile during stress, and have a genetic basis (Craig et al., 2021; Yildrim & Derksen, 2015). Secondary variants are characterized by emotional dysregulation and fearfulness during stress and tend to be influenced by environmental adversity (Craig et al., 2021; Yildrim & Derksen, 2015). Using Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits as the measure of psychopathic-like traits in youth, there is a growing body of research examining the differences between primary and secondary variants of psychopathy in children and adolescents. However, few studies have used psychophysiology to assess emotion regulation capacity in CU variants in school-aged children. Similarly, few studies have observed the two branches of autonomic nervous systems, i.e., sympathetic and parasympathetic (SNS-PNS) coordination patterns to distinguish primary and secondary CU variants during emotion regulation tasks. This study aimed to address these gaps in literature relating to primary and secondary CU variants in children. The study analyzed data from 340 children (mean age = 9.06, SD = .60, 51.8% female) from Brooklyn, NY, with the following racial and ethnic makeups: 52% African American, 21% Caucasian, 11% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 14% mixed race/other. CU traits were assessed using the Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU) and anxiety assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) anxiety subscale. Participants were grouped as follows: primary CU (high CU/low anxiety), secondary CU (high CU/high anxiety) and control (low CU/low anxiety). Psychophysiological measures were recorded during the emotion regulation tasks, with pre-ejection period (PEP) reflecting SNS functioning and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reflecting PNS functioning. One-way ANOVAs were conducted to compare groups on SNS-PNS reactivity and coordination patterns, controlling for age, gender, and race. Results did not provide sufficient evidence to support that SNS-PNS coordination could distinguish CU variants; however, primary and secondary CU variants displayed differences in RSA and PEP reactivities. Primary CU variants displayed excessive PNS withdrawal for two of the four emotion regulation tasks, whereas secondary CU variants displayed excessive SNS withdrawal across three of the four tasks. Healthy controls showed comparatively attenuated responses to tasks. Results from this study provide insight into the potential differences in autonomic nervous system functioning of CU variants during emotion regulation, suggesting that both variants are characterized by emotion dysregulation although the underlying neurobiological processes are different. Implications for future research are discussed.

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