Essi Viding

University College London

Essi Viding is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and Pro Vice Provost for Mental Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge at UCL. Her work utilises different methodological approaches to study developmental risk for psychopathy and children and young people’s mental health more broadly. She has contributed extensively to our understanding of developmental risk for psychopathy, and her research has informed both academic theory and diagnostic practice. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, the U.K. Academy of Medical Sciences and the Association for Psychological Science. She is the past President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy.

Title: Developmental Risk for Psychopathy

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterised by diminished empathy and remorse, manipulation of other people, and antisocial conduct. Individuals with psychopathy incur disproportionate crime costs, even compared with other individuals with persistent antisocial behaviour, and there have been calls to recognise psychopathy as a public health problem. In line with this, developmentalists have argued for the importance of understanding the antecedents of adult psychopathy – to enable development of evidence informed approaches to prevention and early intervention.

In this talk I will present data from the past two decades that has contributed to our understanding of the aetiology and neurocognitive phenotypes associated with developmental risk for psychopathy. I will also discuss research, translational and advocacy challenges that need to be addressed if we want to more effectively limit the costs and harms associated with psychopathy.