Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41749659›Full record

ReviewChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2026

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Their Association with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Insights from Gaze Behaviour During Emotion Recognition.

Astrid Priscilla Martinez-Cedillo, Christian A Delaflor Wagner, Lilia Albores-Gallo, Tom Foulsham

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Out of Sync: Parent-Child Behavioral Synchrony in Conduct Problem Subgroups.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Astrid Priscilla Martinez-CedilloDepartment of Psychology, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk L39 4QP, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7327-3614
Christian A Delaflor WagnerDepartment of Clinical Research, National Medical Centre 20 de Noviembre, Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE), Mexico City 03104, Mexico.ORCID 0000-0003-3529-8938
Lilia Albores-GalloHospital Psiquiatrico Infantil Juan N. Navarro, CONASAMA. Psychiatric Services, Mexico City 14080, Mexico.ORCID 0000-0001-5862-4404
Tom FoulshamDepartment of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8444-7269

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterised by reduced empathy, guilt, and emotional responsiveness, and are strongly linked to atypical socioemotional processing. Eye-tracking research provides a valuable window into these processes by capturing early developing patterns of attention to emotionally salient social cues, particularly facial expressions. This narrative review examines how alterations in gaze behaviour contribute to the emergence of CU traits across neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs), with a focus on autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and conduct disorder (CD). Across studies, elevated CU traits are associated with reduced fixations on the eye region, most consistently in response to fearful faces. ASD is associated with robust eye avoidance, ADHD with inhibitory and attentional control difficulties during face processing, and CD with atypical gaze allocation to negative emotional expressions such as fear and anger. These patterns appear amplified when CU traits co-occur with NDs. Competing explanatory accounts, including aberrant amygdala functioning, oculomotor disinhibition, and hostile attribution biases, each capture aspects of these patterns but fail to provide a unified explanation. Integrating developmental, neurobiological, and environmental perspectives, we propose that CU traits reflect a transdiagnostic developmental construct shaped by early attentional-emotional mechanisms, rather than a disorder-specific identity.

Indexed as

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)autism spectrum disorder (ASD)callous–unemotional (CU)conduct disorder (CD)emotion recognitioneye-trackinggazeneurodevelopmental disorders (NDs)

Identifiers

PMID41749659
PMCPMC12939940

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.