Objective Linguistic Markers Associated with Callous-Unemotional Traits in Early Childhood.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with interpersonal difficulties and risk for severe conduct problems (CP). The ability to communicate thoughts and feelings is critical to social success, with language a promising treatment target. However, no prior studies have examined objective linguistic correlates of childhood CU traits in early childhood, which could give insight into underlying risk mechanisms and novel target treatments.

Methods

We computed lexical (positive emotion, sad, and anger words) and conversational (interruptions and speech rate) markers produced by 131 children aged 5-6 years (M = 5.98; SD = 0.54, 58.8% female) and their parents while narrating wordless storybooks during two online visits separated by 6-8 weeks (M = 6.56, SD = 1.11;

SUBMITTER: Waller R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11461678 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature