How to tell if a child is a future psychopath
<p>We hear about psychopaths all the time – on the news, in movies, books and TV – and while we’ve been told <a href="/lifestyle/relationships/2017/09/scientists-reveal-6-signs-to-spot-a-psychopath/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">how to identify one as an adult</span></strong></a>, how many of us know when to spot one as a child?</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders</span></strong></a> (DSM-5) rules that people under the age of 18 cannot be labelled “psychopaths”, but instead, according to a 2013 decision by the American Psychiatric Association, those between the ages of 12 and 18 can suffer a condition known as “conduct disorder with callous and unemotional traits”.</p>
<p>And this condition is more prevalent than you might think. In 2001, a report published in the journal American Family Physician found that six to 16 per cent of boys and two to nine per cent of girls meet the criteria for conduct disorder, however only a fraction display the “callous and unemotional” traits that are seen as a predictor for adult psychopathy.</p>
<p>Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old charged with 17 counts of murder after the recent Florida School Shooting, allegedly showed classic signs of the disorder as a child, including harming animals.</p>
<p>“Psychopaths don’t just appear when they are 20,” psychology professor at the University of New Mexico and author of <em>The Psychopath Whisperer</em>, Kent Kiehl, told <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/03/07/how-to-tell-if-your-child-is-a-future-psychopath/" target="_blank"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The New York Post</span></em></strong></a>. “They are always different from an early age.”</p>
<p>According to the Hare Psychology Checklist Youth Version (the “gold standard” for testing for psychopathy), characteristics to look out for in children include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Lack of empathy</li>
<li>Lack of guilt and regret</li>
<li>Pathological lying</li>
<li>Grandiose self-worth</li>
<li>Failure to accept responsibility for antisocial behaviour (fighting, bullying)</li>
</ul>
<p>“Individuals who score high on those traits are more likely to produce further violence,” Kiehl explained. “If they are sanctioned but continue on the same path, it’s not a perfect indicator, but it’s enough to cause concern.”</p>
<p>There is no “cure” for psychopathy, however, early intervention from the ages of two or three can reduce their harmful potential.</p>
