A new paper led by Dr. Yael Paz, one of our incredible post-docs at the EDEN Lab, examines the temperamental context in which different psychopathologies emerge, according to the prediction of the STAR model (Sensitivity to Threat and Affiliative Reward) introduced by our lab director, Dr. Rebecca Waller and Dr. Nicolas Wagner from Boston University. In accordance with the STAR model, both low threat sensitivity (fearlessness) and low social affiliation were related to higher callous-unemotional (CU) traits, meaning limited moral emotions such as empathy, shame and guilt, typically associated with severe aggression, in a large national sample of pre-adolescents. More than that, different combinations of threat sensitivity and affiliation were linked to all the behavioral difficulties assessed – conduct problems, anxiety and depression. These novel findings not only extend the validity of the STAR model to a new age group, but also serve to inform critical new understandings of interventions for the unique mechanisms that underlie CU traits and other behavioral difficulties.

Read the full article here: http://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13976