Dimensions of Psychopathy and their Relationships to Cognitive Functioning in Children

Abstract

Individuals with psychopathic traits are hypothesized to be free of intellectual deficits and possibly even to exhibit good cognitive abilities. Previous studies, based on clinical and incarcerated youth, have shown inconsistent findings. We investigated the relationships between different dimensions of psychopathy (callous/unemotional traits, narcissism, impulsivity) and cognitive abilities in a large population-based sample of children (age 9, N = 4,713). Findings indicated a positive relationship between narcissism and both verbal and nonverbal abilities, even after accounting for conduct problems and hyperactivity. Callous/unemotional traits and impulsivity were negatively related to both types of cognitive abilities but did not remain significant after accounting for conduct problems and hyperactivity. Interactions between gender and the dimensions of psychopathy were not significant.

The Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) is supported by a programme grant (G0500079) from the UK Medical Research Council. These analyses were also supported by a grant from the Department of Health FMH Programme (MRD 12-37). Nathalie Fontaine is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of families, children, and teachers in the TEDS. We thank Professor Robert Plomin for comments on a previous version of the paper.

Notes

Note: Means with different subscripts differ significantly at p < .05.

∗p ≤ .05. ∗∗∗p ≤ .001.

Note: The standardized regression coefficients are reported. The interactions between gender and the dimensions of psychopathy were tested in a third step but were not significant and therefore were not presented.

^a Boys = 1, girls = 0.

∗p ≤ .05. ∗∗p ≤ .01. ∗∗∗p ≤ .001.