1. Objectifs

Intentions :
The aim of this study is to identify «perinatal and early-life factors associated with specific developmental trajectories of psychopathic traits during childhood.» (p. 2)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
The study uses data of 1631 children from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD). «Data used in the current study were collected from the pregnancy and childbirth medical records and from mothers when children were aged 5 months, 1.5 years, and 2.5 years (perinatal and early-life factors), as well as from teachers when children were aged 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12 years (psychopathic traits).» (p. 2)

Instrument:
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«[R]esults showed that the broader construct of these [psychopathic] traits follows very similar developmental trajectories to those observed for the CU [callous-unemotional] dimension in community-based samples. In addition, the proportions of boys and girls following each trajectory were comparable to those reported for trajectories of CU traits more specifically […].» (p. 5) «This study revealed that a few perinatal but several child- and family-level early-life factors assessed very early in the child’s life are already related, although with small effect sizes, to their psychopathic traits’ developmental trajectory between 6 and 12 years later.» (p. 5) «[R]esults showed that the early-life factors associated with the exacerbation of psychopathic traits (instead of low and stable levels) are different from those associated with their stability at high levels. For example, factors at the child level (physical aggression and opposition at age 1.5 years) were associated with increasing levels of psychopathic traits.» (p. 7)