Journal article
Social Cognition Deficits and Psychopathic Traits in Young People Seeking Mental Health Treatment
PLoS One, Vol.8(7), e67753
2013
Abstract
Antisocial behaviours and psychopathic traits place an individual at risk for criminality, mental illness, substance dependence, and psychosocial dysfunction. Social cognition deficits appear to be associated with psychopathic traits and are believed to contribute to interpersonal dysfunction. Most research investigating the relationship of these traits with social cognition has been conducted either in children or adult forensic settings. We investigated whether psychopathic traits were associated with social cognition in 91 young people presenting for mental healthcare (aged between 15 and 25 years). Participants completed symptom severity measures, neuropsychological tests, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test of social cognition (RMET), and the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) to assess psychopathic personality traits. Correlation analyses showed poorer social cognition was associated with greater psychopathic traits (r = -.36, p =. 01). Interestingly, social cognition performance predicted unique variance in concurrent psychopathic personality traits above gender, IQ sustained attention, and working memory performance. These findings suggest that social cognitive impairments are associated with psychopathic tendencies in young people presenting for community mental healthcare. Research is needed to establish the directionality of this relationship and to determine whether social cognition training is an effective treatment amongst young people with psychopathic tendencies. © 2013 van Zwieten et al.
Details
- Title
- Social Cognition Deficits and Psychopathic Traits in Young People Seeking Mental Health Treatment
- Authors
- A van Zwieten (Author) - University of SydneyJ Meyer (Author) - University of SydneyDaniel F Hermens (Author) - University of SydneyI B Hickie (Author) - University of SydneyD J Hawes (Author) - University of SydneyN Glozier (Author) - University of SydneyS L Naismith (Author) - University of SydneyE M Scott (Author) - University of SydneyR S C Lee (Author) - University of SydneyA J Guastella (Author) - University of Sydney
- Publication details
- PLoS One, Vol.8(7), e67753; 9
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2013
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0067753
- ISSN
- 1932-6203; 1932-6203
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2013 van Zwieten et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450467002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
- Research Statement
- false
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- Domestic collaboration
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- Web Of Science research areas
- Psychiatry
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