The relation between salivary cortisol, callous-unemotional traits, and conduct problems in an adolescent non-referred sample

• Published in: Journal of child psychology and psychiatry 2006-01, Vol.47 (1), p.30-36
• Main Authors: Loney, Bryan R., Butler, Melanie A., Lima, Elizabeth N., Counts, Carla A., Eckel, Lisa A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Affect - physiology; Antisocial Behavior; Antisocial Personality Disorder - diagnosis; Antisocial Personality Disorder - epidemiology; Antisocial Personality Disorder - metabolism; Behavior disorders; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Biological markers; Body fluids; Callous-unemotional traits; Callousness; Children; Conduct Disorder - diagnosis; Conduct Disorder - epidemiology; Conduct Disorder - metabolism; Correlation analysis; cortisol; Emotional disorders; Emotional Response; Emotional responsiveness; Female; gender; Gender Differences; Hormones; Humans; Hydrocortisone - analysis; Hydrocortisone - metabolism; Male; Males; Mass Screening - methods; Measures (Individuals); Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Neuropsychological Tests; Parent Attitudes; Personality Assessment; Personality Traits; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopathy; Radioimmunoassay; Saliva - chemistry; Salivary cortisol; Scores; Severity of Illness Index; Teenagers; Testosterone - metabolism; Validity
• ISSN: 0021-9630; 1469-7610
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01444.x

Background:  Previous research has suggested that adult psychopathic behavior and child callous‐unemotional (CU) traits are uniquely related to low emotional reactivity. Salivary cortisol is a promising biological measure of emotional reactivity that has been relatively overlooked in research on CU traits and antisocial behavior. The current study examined for gender differences in the relation between resting salivary cortisol levels and CU traits in a non‐referred adolescent sample. Salivary testosterone levels were assessed to provide discriminant validity for cortisol analyses and were not expected to bear a relation to CU traits. Method:  An extreme groups strategy was used to recruit 108 adolescents (53 male, 55 female) from a larger screening sample who exhibited various combinations of low and high scores on parent‐report measures of CU traits and conduct problems. Resting saliva samples were assayed for cortisol and testosterone levels using a radioimmunoassay procedure. Results:  Consistent with prediction, male participants exhibiting elevated CU traits were uniquely characterized by low cortisol levels relative to male comparison groups (p