Characteristic

Have you ever watched a little child grow up to be a cold-blooded psychopath as an adult? The words psychopath and child are rarely associated because they have very contradictory characteristics. Children are often described as innocent even though they are naughty, while psychopaths are seen as traits that are already bad by nature. Then, are there any psychopathic characteristics in children that can be seen by adults, especially their parents?

Psychopathic characteristics in children

Even though it sounds unbelievable, even children can behave rudely and cruelly as seen in adults. They may not be violent all the time, but it turns out that there are some psychopathic traits you can see in your child.

Reporting from the dictionary of the American Psychological Association, psychopath is a term for people who suffer from antisocial personality disorders.

This condition is quite serious because it can be associated with dangerous behavior. However, the use of the word psychopath is often misunderstood because it is often depicted as a mass murderer in films. In fact, this is not always the case.

So, what about children? According to studies from Italian Journal of Pediatrics , children who do not show their emotions are often considered to have personality disorders.

Then, during their teenage years, they can also be diagnosed with behavioral disorders and involve habits that violate the rights of others and ignore the rules.

The following are some of the psychopathic features seen in children from an early age:

Toddlers and pre-school children (playgroup or kindergarten)

Who would have thought that toddlers and preschoolers could show the traits of a psychopath? Not only adults, toddlers and pre-school children can show signs of developing antisocial personality disorder.

This is proven through research from journals Developmental Psychology . In the study, researchers collected data from 731 two-year-old children and their mothers. Hundreds of children were studied until they were nine years old.

Researchers are trying to focus on what children's traits are called behaviors Callous-Unemotional (CU) or pre-psychopathic traits.

This behavior is seen based on empathy, low guilt, and sympathy for others. The limitation of this study is that the participants do not represent all socio-economic classes because they come from middle to lower families and have several risk factors.

During the study, the research team asked the participants' parents, other parents, and the teacher to rate the child with the following trait trends, namely:

the child does not feel guilty after behaving badly
punishment does not change or improve children's behavior
the child is selfish and does not want to share with others
children like to lie
children are sneaky to others, including their own parents

As a result, developing pre-psychopathic (DC) traits were found more frequently in children aged three years. They exhibit the most frequent behavioral problems and are more likely to be linked to psychopathy in childhood.

These findings may be a reference and help for parents to detect whether psychopathic traits are displayed by their children so that they can be prevented when they grow up.

Older children (elementary school through adolescence)

Children who show psychopathic characteristics are actually the same as adults show in their daily lives. These signs include ignoring the feelings of others and not feeling sorry when you do something wrong.

Although there is no specific test that shows whether the child is a psychopath or not, at least the psychologist has several assessments to help measure the child's symptoms.

One of the most common assessments is Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI). This test requires the child to undergo an examination and answer questions about themselves.

It aims to measure children's traits and personalities that may be associated with psychopathic traits, such as:

dishonest
lie
arrogant or arrogant
manipulative
have no feelings
show no mercy
impulsive and thrill-seeking
not responsible

In addition, most children and adolescents who fall into the naughty category prefer to be with their peers who behave the same way. As a result, they often do juvenile delinquency, not infrequently when doing juvenile delinquency they do it in groups.

However, it is important to remember that children with psychopathic characteristics tend to be cautious and rarely appear to have violated the law. They prefer to be the "leader" of the group and influence other group members to engage in antisocial behavior.

Will psychopathic traits go away on their own?

Psychopathic traits exhibited by children may seem natural at first, so most parents choose to ignore them.

In fact, some experts argue that the traits they exhibit will remain stable with age. That is, they will grow up with the same traits.

Meanwhile, there are some researchers who suggest that psychopathic signs are more pronounced in adolescence. For example, some adolescents are often thrill-seeking and often act on instinct, but it could be developmental issues, not necessarily psychopathic traits.

Therefore, early detection of psychopathic traits in children is the best step because it requires treatment so that the condition improves.

The good news is, most children and toddlers are not psychopaths even though they exhibit similar traits, such as being indifferent or mean at times. However, children who are psychopathic are violent and not always emotional.

If you find your child unreasonable and incompatible with children his own age, perhaps seeking help from a child psychologist is the best option.