Primary Versus Secondary Callous-Unemotional Traits: A Longitudinal Study of Predictors, Outcomes, and Gender Differences

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are key predictors of conduct problems. Although primary and secondary CU variants have been identified, longitudinal evidence and the role of gender remain limited. This study examined CU subtypes, predictors, and outcomes using data from the ELISA Project ( n = 2,163; 49.4% girls; M age T1 = 4.26; M age T6 = 10.92). Children were classified as Low CU/Low Anx (77.9%), Primary CU (11%), Anxiety (8.9%), or Secondary CU (2.2%) based on CU and anxiety scores. Predictors (i.e., fearlessness, emotionality, parenting variables, parental stress) were analyzed using ridge penalized MLR, and aggression correlates and emotional-behavioral outcomes with MANOVAs. Risk for Primary CU was associated with elevated fearlessness, punitive parenting, and lower parental warmth across genders, as well as higher parental inconsistency among girls. Risk for Secondary CU was characterized by increased punitive parenting among boys and reduced parental warmth across genders. At T4, exploratory analyses suggested higher relational aggression among girls within the Primary CU group, whereas boys in the Secondary CU group tended to show higher overt aggression. By T6, the Secondary variant was characterized by overall poorer emotional and behavioral outcomes compared with the Primary variant. Findings point to distinct developmental pathways across CU variants and underscore the importance of gender-sensitive perspectives in CU research.