Longitudinal network structure of child psychopathy across development in chinese community children

The aim of this study was to conduct a longitudinal network analysis to identify the central characteristics of psychopathy and determine whether these features change over time during childhood. This study examined the network structure of psychopathy operationalized by the Child Problematic Traits Inventory at four time-points over three years in a sample of Chinese community children (N = 268, 48% boys). We examined (a) which features were central to the psychopathy networks, and (b) whether the network structure changed over time. Items assessing a lack of remorse, being unconcerned about others’ feelings, and deceitfulness were positioned centrally with higher centrality indices at each time-point. The network structure of psychopathy was relatively stable over time. Our findings extend the knowledge about the core features of child psychopathy and the tendencies of those central characteristics throughout child development. We also discuss how these findings can help the development of targeted interventions and treatment of child psychopathy in clinical practice.