Callous unemotional behaviors can be challenging to understand.

One community study of 1136 children from third to seventh grade found that 10 to 32% of those with

conduct disorder and 2 to 7% of those without conduct disorder met the callous emotional

specifier threshold in the DSM-5.

In this episode, we will discuss what callous unemotional behaviors are, what they look like,

how to assess these behaviors, types of interventions, and more.

Dr. Megan Rose Donahue joins us today to help us unpack this topic.

She's an instructor in psychiatry and works in the

division of child and adolescent psychiatry at Washu School of Medicine. Welcome to the Carlisat

Psychiatry podcast. This is another episode from the child psychiatry team.

I'm Dr. Josh Fader, the editor-in-chief of the Carlatte Child Psychiatry Report

and co-author of the Child Medication Fact Book for Psychiatric Practice.

Our second edition is coming out early 2023.

Yay.

And I'm Mara Government, a licensed clinical social worker in Southern California with a private

practice and an avid Carlatte newsletter reader.

Callous unemotional traits better defined as callous unemotional behaviors are characterized

by an observable lack of morality, such as a lack of empathy,

lack of guilt, a lack of pro-social behaviors. Children with callous unemotional behaviors often display

shallow emotions. For example, they may lack connection to parents, feel little sadness when someone

is hurt, and show less expression of emotions toward other people. They also show a lack of motivation.

For instance, they might not put sufficient effort into schoolwork and extracurriculars.

...