A Validation of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in a Community Sample of Young Adult Males

Abstract

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been shown to delineate a subgroup of individuals at high risk for exhibiting severe and persistent criminal behavior. The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU; Frick 2004) was recently developed as a comprehensive rating scale designed to measure multiple facets of CU traits. However, validation of this measure has been limited to youth in adolescence and emerging adulthood (age range=12-20), leaving questions about the utility of this measure in early adulthood unanswered. The current study evaluated the factor structure of the ICU within a racially diverse and well characterized community sample of adult males (n=425) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). While results found the best fitting model to be the three-bifactor structure that has been previously reported in adolescent samples, the fit indices were only marginally acceptable and suggest the need for scale refinement. Total and subscales scores demonstrated significant and distinct associations with relevant external criteria (e.g., delinquency, psychopathy, psychopathology, psychosocial functioning). Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: Callous-unemotional traits; Delinquency; Psychopathology; Psychopathy; Psychosocial functioning; Validation; Young adulthood.

Fig. 1

CFA: Bi-Factor model with correlated residuals. Loadings depicted in bold font are significant; General factor loadings are depicted in gray; Subfactor loadings are depicted in black; Residuals are not depicted for clarity; Correlated residuals are as follows 1) eICU22 with eICU12=.42; 2) eICU10 with eICU6=.34; 3) eICU12 with eICU6=.39; 4) eICU22 with eICU6=.45; 5) eICU22 with eICU10 = 28