TY - JOUR
T1 - Pubertal timing and callous-unemotional traits in girls
T2 - Associations across two samples from the UK and Cyprus
AU - Muñoz Centifanti, Luna C.
AU - Boydston, Louisa
AU - Wee, Celeste
AU - Demetriou, Vasiliki
AU - MacLellan, Susanne
AU - Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous, Xenia
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - Introduction: Girls remain an understudied group when examining delinquency. Callous-unemotional traits are chief among personality traits that relate to delinquency. Some suggest, however, that girls who evince callous-unemotional traits delay their delinquent behavior until adolescence. This transitional period encompasses physical factors that relate to engagement in risky decision making, but we don't know how these factors relate to callous-unemotional traits. Early pubertal timing shows positive associations with delinquency; we tested if this was also the case for callous-unemotional traits. Methods: We tested associations among pubertal timing (i.e., maturity and menarche age), delinquency, and callous-unemotional traits within girls (ages 11–18 years) sampled from two European countries (UK and Cyprus). We also tested the interaction between callous-unemotional traits and pubertal timing in statistically predicting delinquency to test if associations between early puberty and delinquency were moderated by callous-unemotional traits. Results: Greater callous-unemotional traits were surprisingly negatively related to early pubertal timing. Those girls in the delayed menarche group had the highest level of callous-unemotional traits, higher than the typical and early menarche groups. Only callous-unemotional traits statistically predicted variance in delinquency and no moderation was evident. Conclusions: The implications are that callous-unemotional traits and the transition to puberty may be particularly important for girls’ adjustment in adolescence, particularly if menarche is delayed allowing girls to avoid punishment by capitalizing on their immaturity.
AB - Introduction: Girls remain an understudied group when examining delinquency. Callous-unemotional traits are chief among personality traits that relate to delinquency. Some suggest, however, that girls who evince callous-unemotional traits delay their delinquent behavior until adolescence. This transitional period encompasses physical factors that relate to engagement in risky decision making, but we don't know how these factors relate to callous-unemotional traits. Early pubertal timing shows positive associations with delinquency; we tested if this was also the case for callous-unemotional traits. Methods: We tested associations among pubertal timing (i.e., maturity and menarche age), delinquency, and callous-unemotional traits within girls (ages 11–18 years) sampled from two European countries (UK and Cyprus). We also tested the interaction between callous-unemotional traits and pubertal timing in statistically predicting delinquency to test if associations between early puberty and delinquency were moderated by callous-unemotional traits. Results: Greater callous-unemotional traits were surprisingly negatively related to early pubertal timing. Those girls in the delayed menarche group had the highest level of callous-unemotional traits, higher than the typical and early menarche groups. Only callous-unemotional traits statistically predicted variance in delinquency and no moderation was evident. Conclusions: The implications are that callous-unemotional traits and the transition to puberty may be particularly important for girls’ adjustment in adolescence, particularly if menarche is delayed allowing girls to avoid punishment by capitalizing on their immaturity.
KW - Callous-unemotional traits
KW - Delinquency
KW - Maturation
KW - Puberty
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053750242&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.08.010
DO - 10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.08.010
M3 - Article
C2 - 30248585
AN - SCOPUS:85053750242
SN - 0140-1971
VL - 69
SP - 52
EP - 61
JO - Journal of Adolescence
JF - Journal of Adolescence
ER -