1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The aim of this study was to identify mental health outcomes during adolescence that are associated with specific developmental trajectories of the multidimensional construct of psychopathic traits during middle childhood. Furthermore, in line with prior evidence highlighting the importance of these factors in understanding the consequences associated with CU [callous-unemotiona] traits […], the study aimed to test if children’s positive relationships with parents and teachers could act as compensating or protective factors.» (p. 7-8)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD) was used. The QLSCD «is a representative sample initially consisting of 2120 youths from the province of Quebec (Canada) who were recruited through a stratified procedure based on the area of living and birth rate using the Quebec Birth Registry […]. From the initial sample, 1401 children (52.82% girls) had available data on both psychopathic traits (ages 6–12 years) and mental health outcomes (ages 15–17 years), and were therefore included in the current analyses.» (p. 3)

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Results indicated that children following a High-stable, Increasing, and Decreasing trajectory of psychopathic traits across childhood had distinct mental health outcomes during adolescence when compared to children following a Low-stable trajectory. First, children following a High-stable trajectory of psychopathic traits were at-risk of having behavior problems mainly from the externalizing spectrum, such as conduct and delinquency problems at ages 15–17 years. […] Results from this study also support the importance of positive relationships with parents and teachers in children with higher levels of psychopathic traits. For instance, [the authors] observed that positive parenting at child age 10–12 years had a protective effect, instead of a compensatory effect, on the development of delinquency problems among children whose psychopathic traits declined during childhood […]. Among this subgroup of children, only those who had experienced lower levels of positive parenting appeared to show elevated levels of delinquency problems in adolescence. Despite this specific protective effect, however, [the] study globally shows that children’s positive relationships act more as compensatory factors, rather than protective factors, in the associations between psychopathic traits and mental health outcomes during adolescence. [The] results suggest that positive relationships with parents and teachers mostly do not combine interactively with psychopathic traits in predicting mental health outcomes.» (p. 8)