Emotional Numbing Symptoms of PTSD and Violent Juvenile Offending: Associations with Callous-Unemotional Traits and Aggression

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

This study examined whether distinct patterns of PTSD symptom expression were associated with increases in violent juvenile offending in a sample of detained boys (N=199). Specifically, it was predicted that Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) would reveal a “Low Reactivity” group, characterized by symptoms of emotional numbing/detachment and callous-unemotional (CU) traits and a “High Reactivity” group, characterized by symptoms of hyperarousal and emotion dysregulation. The Low Reactivity group was expected to have higher rates of violent offending and proactive aggression than the High Reactivity group. As hypothesized, youth with only hyperarousal symptoms did not report significantly higher violent offending (M=2.26; SD=1.53) compared with no-trauma controls (M=1.67; SD=1.19). Contrary to expectations, results indicated that the presence of both emotional numbing and hyperarousal symptoms were associated with higher rates of violent offending (M=3.57; SD=2.17 High Combined), CU traits (M=33.93, SD=10.45 High Combined; M=27.89, SD=8.23 Control), and proactive aggression (M=7.94, SD=7.46 High Combined; M=3.77, SD=5.06 Control). Results indicate that the risk of serious aggressive behavior and violent offending may be highest among youth who are easily provoked to respond aggressively (i.e., elevated aggression and hyperarousal symptoms) while simultaneously able to maintain emotional detachment (i.e., elevated emotional numbing symptoms and CU traits).

Authors

• Molly A. Miller, University of New Orleans

• Monica A. Marsee, Iowa State University