Citation

Kimonis ER, Frick PJ, Skeem JL, Marsee MA, Cruise K, Muñoz LC, Aucoin KJ, Morris AS. Int. J. Law Psychiatry 2008; 31(3): 241-252.

Affiliation

Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, Louis de la Parte Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. kimonis@fmhi.usf.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijlp.2008.04.002

PMID

18514315

Abstract

The presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits designates an important subgroup of antisocial youth. To improve upon existing measures, the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) was developed to provide an efficient, reliable, and valid assessment of CU traits in samples of youth. The current study tests the factor structure and correlates of the ICU scale in a sample (n=248) of juvenile offenders (188 boys, 60 girls) between the ages of 12 and 20 (M=15.47, SD=1.37). Confirmatory factor analyses are consistent with the presence of three independent factors (i.e., Uncaring, Callousness, and Unemotional) that relate to a higher-order callous-unemotional dimension. Also, CU traits overall showed associations with aggression, delinquency, and both psychophysiological and self-report indices of emotional reactivity. There were some important differences across the three facets of the ICU in their associations with these key external criteria.

Language: en