Childhood Psychopathy: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

Childhood psychopathy is a mental health disorder which can manifest during childhood. In general terms, childhood psychopathy consists of repetitive patterns of antisocial behavior commanded by manipulation and lack of empathy in interpersonal ties.

Although there is no clear delimitation of the problem, it is possible to place childhood psychopathy within the antisocial personality disorder that the DSM-V addresses.⁽¹⁾. Next, we will see the diagnostic criteria for this clinical picture:

• Disregard of rules.
• Intention to dominate a situation for personal benefit and harm to others.
• Lack of guilt.
• Deterioration of relationships social, work and family.
• The alterations cannot be explained by the ingestion of medications and/or toxic substances.

It should be noted that this diagnosis is made after the age of 15, however, it shares some characteristics with childhood psychopathy.

The manifestations of childhood psychopathy can be detected through the observation of behaviors, emotions and interpretation of thoughts. In this section, we will discuss the main symptoms:

• Lack of empathy.
• Manipulations
• Feelings of inferiority.
• Impulsiveness.
• Intermittent social relationships.
• Violent antisocial behavior with people and animals
• Low school performance.

There are several reasons that explain childhood psychopathy. Specifically, this clinical picture is determined by a sum of genetic, environmental and social factors that occur in the life of a boy or girl. Next, discover the main causes of childhood psychopathy.

• Genetic factors: Genetic inheritance from parents diagnosed with this mental health disorder can predispose one to suffer the same symptoms. It should be noted that there are alterations in the neuronal connections that occur in the central nervous system, which affects the processing of stimuli coming from outside.
• Environmental factors: Childhood traumatic experiences influence personality development. Here it can be mentioned that sexual abuse, verbal and/or physical violence, loss of loved ones, prohibitions and other situations that are difficult to overcome play a fundamental role for the person.
• Social factors: the environment that surrounds the person can influence the strengthening of antisocial behaviors. This can be encouraged through hostile attitudes of a group of people, theft, violence, among others.

Childhood psychopathy can be addressed through various approaches that have been shown to be highly efficient and effective in these cases. Treatments for childhood psychopathy include:

• Psychological therapy: helps the child regulate his impulses, control his actions and establish new habits in relationships with other people. Likewise, it is important to work on communication and empathy and promote socially accepted behaviors. In general terms, the approaches most implemented in these cases are cognitive behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis, which attempts to locate the origin of the child’s conflicts when facing life situations.
• Psychiatric medication: There are medications that regulate anxiety and impulsivity through changes in brain functioning. However, this indication should always be supervised by a mental health professional. In the following article you will find information about the different types of psychotropic drugs.
• Establishing clear boundaries: Childhood psychopathy must be addressed by implementing clear prohibitions that have direct consequences on the child’s actions. This is useful for the person to be aware of their thoughts and evaluate other modalities.
• Understand the meaning of actions: Sometimes, children try to express their internal conflicts through actions that are harmful to the environment. However, this does not mean that they have a specific desire to do it, but rather that they try to attract the attention of family members. For this reason, talking deeply and investigating the reasons is essential to avoid problems in the future.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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