Interpersonal Relationships and Callous-Unemotional Traits During Adolescence and Young Adulthood: An Investigation of Bidirectional Effects in Parent, Peer, and Romantic Relationships

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits, or limited prosocial emotions, designate an important subgroup of individuals with conduct problems. These traits are associated with low quality of interpersonal relationships, but limited research has investigated the direction of these effects. In the present study, we investigated the longitudinal associations between CU traits and warmth with parents, friends, and romantic partners over a 5-year span in a sample of justice-involved adolescent and young-adult males. Random intercept cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that CU traits predicted reductions in parental warmth throughout adolescence and young adulthood. Negative bidirectional associations between CU traits and romantic warmth were present during young adulthood. However, although individuals with higher CU traits had less warm friendships, there were no within-individuals predictive associations over time. Findings indicate that CU traits are predictive of problematic interpersonal relationships, and these relationships need to be considered in intervention, including focusing on improving romantic warmth in young adulthood.