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Violence Exposure Subtypes Differentially Mediate the Relation between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Adolescent Delinquency

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Abstract

Research with children and adolescents has established a link between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and delinquency, as well as a link between violence exposure (witnessing and direct victimization) and diverse negative and antisocial outcomes. Little attention has been paid to investigating the association among CU traits, violence exposure, and various forms of delinquency. Using a sample of 753 adolescents (male =58%; African American =46%), the current study aimed to elucidate the mediating role of violence exposure (measured in grades 7, 8, 10, 11) on the relationship between CU traits measured in grade 7 and later delinquency (i.e., property, violent, drug, and sexual) assessed in grade 12. Total violence exposure (witnessing and direct victimization) mediated the association between CU traits and all forms of delinquency. When looking at witnessing and direct victimization separately, however, only witnessing violence mediated the relationship between CU traits and all forms of delinquency. These results highlight the importance of violence exposure in the CU-delinquency link, and showed the differential roles of indirect and direct forms of violence exposure on the association. Witnessing and direct victimization may involve different underlying mechanisms influencing developmental outcomes in youth. These findings have important implications for understanding developmental models of violence exposure, CU traits, and delinquency, as well as interventions for youth who have experienced both indirect and direct forms of violence.

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Acknowledgements

This work used data from the Fast Track project (for additional information concerning Fast Track, see http://www.fasttrackproject.org). We are grateful for the collaboration of the Durham Public Schools, the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, the Bellefonte Area Schools, the Tyrone Area Schools, the Mifflin County Schools, the Highline Public Schools, and the Seattle Public Schools. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of the many staff members who implemented the project, collected the evaluation data, and assisted with data management and analyses. We are grateful to the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group (Karen L. Bierman, John D. Coie, Kenneth A. Dodge, Mark T. Greenberg, John E. Lochman, Robert J. McMahon, and Ellen E. Pinderhughes) for providing the data and for additional involvement.

This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grants R18 MH48043, R18 MH50951, R18 MH50952, R18 MH50953, K05MH00797, and K05MH01027; National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Grants DA016903, K05DA15226, and P30DA023026; and Department of Education Grant S184 U30002. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention also provided support through a memorandum of agreement with the NIMH. Additional support for the preparation of this work was provided by a LEEF B.C. Leadership Chair award, Child & Family Research Institute Investigator Salary and Investigator Establishment Awards, and a Canada Foundation for Innovation award to Robert J. McMahon.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Institute for the Reduction of Youth Violence, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada

    Carla Oberth, Yao Zheng & Robert J. McMahon

  2. BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

    Carla Oberth, Yao Zheng & Robert J. McMahon

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  1. Carla Oberth
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  2. Yao Zheng
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Correspondence to Carla Oberth.

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Oberth, C., Zheng, Y. & McMahon, R.J. Violence Exposure Subtypes Differentially Mediate the Relation between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Adolescent Delinquency. J Abnorm Child Psychol 45, 1565–1575 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-017-0267-8

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