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REGULAR ARTICLES
Posttrauma Numbing of Fear, Detachment, and Arousal
Predict Delinquent Behaviors in Early Adolescence
Maureen A. Allwood
Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice,
The City University of New York
Debora J. Bell
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri–Columbia
Jacqueline Horan
Psychology Department, Fordham University
This study elaborated on associations between youth’s trauma-related emotional numb-
ing across multiple affective domains (e.g., fear, sadness, happiness, anger) and delin-
quent behaviors. The study also examined whether the effects of posttrauma
emotional numbing varied by the occurrence of posttrauma arousal symptoms. Parti-
cipants were 123 middle school boys and girls from working-class, urban communities.
Emotional numbing, particularly diminished fear, was related to both home and com-
munity violence exposure. Numbing of fearful emotions was associated with all types
of delinquent behaviors examined. In addition, numbing of sadness was associated with
aggression. Interactions between numbing of fear and hyperarousal suggested a com-
plex pattern of emotional processing following exposure to traumatic events in which
numbing related to delinquent behavior only in the context of high posttrauma arousal.
These patterns may coalesce to place youth at risk for early involvement in delinquent
behaviors.
Posttraumatic emotional numbing is defined as a dimin-
ished interest in activities, detachment from others, and
a restricted range of affect. As described by the Diagnos-
tic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–
IV–TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000),
emotional numbing is a symptom construct embedded
within the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), a highly debilitating disorder that develops in
response to experiencing a traumatic event (e.g., sexual
assault, physical assault) or events (e.g., chronic abuse,
war). The diagnosis of PTSD currently consists of three
symptom components—reexperiencing, arousal, and
emotional numbing=avoidance. However, several factor
analytical studies support a four-factor structure, with
emotional numbing and avoidance symptoms constitut-
ing two separate components (e.g., King, Leskin, King,
& Weathers, 1998). This four-factor conceptualization is
particularly important given recent findings that
emotional numbing is a strong predictor of chronic
PTSD (Feeny, Zoellner, Fitzgibbons, & Foa, 2000). In
addition, emotional numbing may have particular
relevance for developmental trajectories of children and
adolescents who experience traumatic events. Although
PTSD symptoms may have grave consequences at any
age, children and adolescents who are emotionally or
This work was supported by a Ford Foundation Dissertation
Fellowship awarded to the first author. We thank the children,
families, and schools that participated in this study.
Correspondence should be addressed to Maureen A. Allwood,
Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice,
445 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019. E-mail: mallwood@jjay.
cuny.edu
Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40(5), 659–667, 2011
Copyright #Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1537-4416 print=1537-4424 online
DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2011.597081
cognitively disengaged may be especially vulnerable to
derailments in their social, emotional, cognitive, and
perhaps even physiological development. Such altered
trajectories can set in motion a cascade of negative
effects on current functioning and future outcomes.
EMOTIONAL NUMBING AND EXTERNALIZING
BEHAVIORS
Emotional numbing has been conceptually and empiri-
cally linked to both internalizing (Weierich & Nock,
2008) and externalizing behaviors in children and ado-
lescents (Wahlberg, Kennedy, & Simpson, 2003). How-
ever, in a recent examination of linkages between
posttrauma emotional numbing and externalizing beha-
viors (i.e., violent behaviors and delinquency) among
early adolescents, no direct association was found
(Allwood & Bell, 2008). Of interest, after accounting
for posttrauma arousal symptoms, emotional numbing
showed a trend toward relating negatively to violent
behaviors. Despite the failure to find a direct positive
association between posttrauma emotional numbing
and violent and delinquent behaviors, there is a related
body of evidence that indicates that callousness and une-
motional traits are consistently related to conduct prob-
lems and delinquent behaviors in youth, particularly
children exhibiting early onset and persistent delin-
quency (Essau, Sasagawa, & Frick, 2006; Frick et al.,
2003; Pardini, 2006). Although callous and unemotional
traits have not been examined within the context of
trauma exposure, at least one prospective study
(Pardini, Lochman, & Powell, 2007) indicates that these
traits are predicted by earlier corporal punishment.
Notably, in their recent examination of callous-
unemotional traits and delinquency, Essau et al. (2006)
found that although callousness (defined roughly as
‘‘being hardened’’) was consistently positively associated
with aggressive and antisocial behaviors for boys and
girls, being uncaring or unemotional were not consist-
ently related. In fact, in Essau et al.’s (2006) study, after
controlling for other emotional (e.g., emotional insta-
bility) and personality (e.g., extraversion) traits, unemo-
tional traits were negatively related to aggressive and
antisocial behaviors, similar to Allwood and Bell’s
(2008) findings.
Although these findings are notable, the Essau et al.
(2006) and Allwood and Bell (2008) studies share two
methodological shortcomings. First, both studies relied
on very circumscribed measures of diminished emotions.
Essau et al. used a five-item measure of unemotionality
that was embedded within a callousness scale, whereas
Allwood and Bell utilized a five-item measure of
emotional numbing that was embedded within a PTSD
composite scale. Thus, the role of diminished emotions
in relation to violent and delinquent behaviors remains
in need of further study. Studies that conceptualize
emotional disengagement more broadly and examine
the juxtaposed role of emotional arousal (e.g., emotional
instability) in association with emotional disengagement
are needed to advance the literature. Second, neither
study examined the role of disengagement across types
of emotions. There is some evidence that the associa-
tions between emotional disengagement and delin-
quency might be limited to specific types of emotions.
Based on studies of autonomic nervous system response
among violent youth, Raine (1993), among others, pos-
ited that the absence of one particular emotion, fear,is
linked to callousness and delinquency. According to this
theory, fearlessness is believed to inhibit sufficient arou-
sal or anxiety necessary for adequate socialization and
adherence to rules (Raine, Reynolds, Venables,
Mednick, & Farrington, 1998). Therefore, a specific
examination of diminished fear within the context of
the more broadly construed diminished emotions
and emotional arousal could clarify the associations
among emotionality, arousal, and delinquent behaviors.
Furthermore, incorporating trauma exposure and
posttrauma symptom information could further clarify
the long-established links between trauma exposure,
particularly violence exposure, and delinquent
behaviors.
Current Study
The present study hypothesized that posttrauma
emotional numbing would be linked to the lack of
empathy, lack of emotionality, and detachment often
seen in youth with persistent delinquent behaviors.
Informed by studies of callousness and unemotional
traits, but focused specifically on chronic posttrauma
emotional states, our study sought to elaborate on the
associations between diminished emotions and delin-
quent behaviors by expanding the measurement of
emotional numbing beyond the PTSD symptom con-
struct. We utilized a more macroscopic assessment of
emotional numbing in youth across multiple affective
domains (e.g., fear, sadness, happiness, and anger) in
combination with the more circumscribed posttrauma
emotional numbing items that assess restricted affect,
emotional detachment, anhedonia, and a sense of
foreshortened future.
It is important to note that we examined associations
between adolescent delinquent behaviors and trauma-
related diminished emotions across multiple types of
emotions. Specifically, we examined three questions:
(a) Are self-reported diminished emotions related to
delinquent behaviors, and if so, is the numbing of fear-
fulness more predictive of delinquent behaviors than
numbing of other emotions? (b) Are diminished
660 ALLWOOD, BELL, HORAN
emotions and arousal symptoms differentially related to
different types of delinquent behaviors (e.g., aggression
against people vs. property offenses)? (c) Does numbing
of emotions, particularly fear, moderate the relationship
between arousal and delinquent behaviors, such that
self-reported emotional arousal is only predictive of
delinquent behaviors in the context of high levels of
self-reported fearlessness? Based on previous studies
and theoretical support, we hypothesized that a dimin-
ished sense of fear would have the strongest association
with all types of delinquent behaviors as compared to
other domains of diminished emotions (e.g., sadness,
anger, positive emotions).
METHODS
Participants
Participants were 123 seventh-grade (63.4%) and
eighth-grade (36.6%) students from two working-class,
urban, Midwest communities. The mean age of the sam-
ple was 13.1 years (SD ¼.81) and 50.4% were girls. The
self-identified ethnicity of the sample was 73% Cauca-
sian, 11.5% African American, 4.9% Latino, 2.5%
Native American, 1.6% Asian=Asian American, and
6.6% other or unspecified ethnicity.
Procedures
Detailed procedures for the larger research project are
published elsewhere (Allwood & Bell, 2008) but are sum-
marized briefly here. Study approval was granted by the
university Institutional Review Board and relevant
school boards. Recruitment packets were sent to 724
parents of seventh- and eighth-grade students, of which
17% were returned with written informed parental con-
sent. This consent rate is consistent with previous middle
school studies soliciting active parental consent by mail
(Ji, Pokomy, & Jason, 2004). At each school, data col-
lection was scheduled on one or two days during school
hours; all youth with parent consent were available on
the scheduled days, and each provided informed assent.
Data were collected during small group administration
sessions, and students’ seating was spaced to provide
privacy.
Measures
Exposure to violence. The Screen for Adolescent
Violence Exposure (Hastings & Kelley, 1997) is a
32-item, three-subscale measure of youth exposure to
indirect and direct violence in home, neighborhood,
and school contexts. Youth rate violence exposure in
each context by using a 5-point scale, from 0 (never)to
4(always), to rate the frequency of occurrence. The scale
yields a total violence exposure score for each context
and three empirically derived subscales: Traumatic Viol-
ence, Physical and Verbal Abuse, and Indirect Violence.
The scale has high internal consistency (a>.90 within
each setting) and 2-week test–retest reliability (.92 for
neighborhood and home; Hastings & Kelley, 1997).
For the present study, violence exposures in neighbor-
hoods and schools were combined into a single com-
munity violence context, resulting in three factors
across two exposure contexts (i.e., home, community).
Coefficient alphas for the present study were .88 and
.91, respectively, for home and community violence
exposure total scores, and ranged from .62 to .89 for
subscales.
Emotional processing. The Emotional Numbing
Scale (Luterek, Plumb, Tull, Roemer, & Orsillo, 2002)
is a 33-item, three-factor measure of the emotional
numbing component of PTSD. Items are worded to rep-
resent emotional experience (e.g., ‘‘I feel happy ...’’)
and are reverse scored (except for Item 6, which is
worded negatively) so that higher scores represent more
numbing. The scale has three factors: Numbing to Posi-
tive Emotions (12 items), Numbing to Anger (6 items),
and Numbing to Sadness and Fear (12 items). Internal
consistency is high (a¼.93) for the composite score
and for the three factor scores (a¼.87, .89, and .84,
respectively; Luterek et al., 2002). Based on the previous
research (Orsillo, Theodore-Oklota, Luterek, & Plumb,
2007) and on our interest in fearlessness, we separated
the Sadness and Fear factor into two subscales. Coef-
ficient alpha in the present study was .94 for the entire
measure, and alphas ranged from .79 (Fear, 4 items)
to .87 (Sadness, 8 items) for subscale scores.
Trauma symptoms. The UCLA PTSD Index
(Pynoos, Rodriguez, Steinberg, Stuber, & Frederick,
1998) is a 49-item measure of trauma exposure and
response, with 22 items assessing DSM–IV and other
trauma-related symptoms. For the current study, one
symptom item, ‘‘I have arguments and physical fights,’’
was removed from all analyses due to the overlap with
the delinquent behavior measure. Based on previous stu-
dies, as well as our specific interest in the numbing
symptoms of PTSD, the numbing and avoidance com-
ponents of PTSD were examined separately. Internal
consistency for the 22-item symptom scale is satisfactory
(a¼.85; Ellis, Lhewa, Charney, & Cabral, 2006). In the
this study, the alpha for the symptom composite was
.93, and alpha for the posttrauma Emotional Numbing
and Arousal scales (5 items each) were .79 and .74,
respectively.
EMOTIONAL NUMBING AND DELINQUENCY 661
Delinquent behaviors. The Self-Reported Delin-
quency scale (Elliott, Huizinga, & Ageton, 1985) is a
45-item youth-report measure of delinquent behaviors
across six domains (i.e., property offenses, status
offenses, illegal service, drug use, disorderly conduct,
aggression). Participants use a 5-point scale to rate the
frequency of each behavior in the past year, from 0
(not at all)to4(10 or more). One item (sexual behavior
for money) was dropped from the scale at school offi-
cials’ request. In the current sample, Illegal Service
and Illegal Drug Use had very low occurrence rates
and were not included in further analysis. The
Self-Reported Delinquency scale demonstrated
adequate test–retest reliability (.75 for general delin-
quency over 3 to 4 weeks; Huizinga & Elliott, 1986).
For the present study, coefficient alphas were .92 for
the composite and 89, .63, .70, and .67 for Property
Offenses, Status Offenses, Disorderly Conduct and
Aggression subscales, respectively.
Data Analyses
Preliminary analyses identified and winsorized outlying
scores (greater than 3 SDs from the mean). Two sub-
scales (i.e., Home Traumatic Violence and Aggression)
and the related composite scores (i.e., Home Violence
and Delinquent Behaviors) were winsorized to meet
assumptions of normality. Bivariate Pearson correla-
tions were then conducted to assess intercorrelations
among measures. Because this study is the first to exam-
ine our research questions, we felt it important to mini-
mize Type 2 error. Thus, we did not adjust alpha levels
in correlation or regression analyses. Sex and age were
related to delinquent behaviors and were therefore
included in regression analysis as covariates but race=
ethnicity was not. Emotional numbing variables with
significant bivariate associations with delinquent beha-
viors were entered into hierarchical regression analyses
to examine the strength of the associations after control-
ling for demographics and posttrauma arousal. In
addition, to assess hypothesized associations between
arousal symptoms and delinquent behavior within the
context of diminished emotions, interactions between
posttrauma arousal and relevant numbing of feelings
were included as the last step in the hierarchical
regression analyses. Overall, there were very few missing
data points. Thus, missing data were treated as missing
at random and were not imputed. Specific details
regarding sample characteristics (e.g., bivariate relations
by gender) are available in Allwood and Bell (2008).
RESULTS
Descriptive Statistics
Youth in the sample were exposed to many types of viol-
ence. On average, youth experienced 18 incidents of
community violence and 6 incidents of home violence
(scaled for frequency; see Allwood & Bell, 2008).
Although PTSD diagnosis was not assessed in the study,
16.3% (n¼20) of the sample met the three symptom cri-
teria (i.e., reexperiencing, avoidance and numbing, arou-
sal) of the PTSD construct (American Psychiatric
Association, 2000).
Numbing of Emotions in Relation to Violence
Exposure
As shown in Tables 1 and 2, PTSD Index numbing was
associated with multiple types of violence exposure,
including physical and verbal abuse and indirect viol-
ence in both the community and at home. Notably,
PTSD Index numbing was not related to the most severe
violence exposure in either context (i.e., traumatic viol-
ence). Of the specific emotional numbing responses,
numbing of fear was more strongly and consistently
related to violence exposure than any other type of
emotional response. Numbing of fear was related to
all three types of in-home violence exposure (i.e., trau-
matic violence, indirect violence, physical and verbal
abuse) and to traumatic and indirect violence exposure
in the community. Both numbing of sadness and
TABLE 1
Descriptive Statistics and Intercorrelations of Violence Exposure, Symptoms, and Delinquency Measures
Intercorrelations
Measure M SD Range 1 2 3 4 5
1. Home Violence 6.38 8.27 0–31 — .70 .22.34 .44
2. Community Violence 18.24 13.26 0–64 — .08 .43 .46
3. Emotional Numbing Scale 41.78 20.88 6–109 — .15 .07
4. UCLA PTSD Index 20.41 16.42 0–64 — .30
5. Self-Reported Delinquency 8.59 10.41 0–50 —
p<.05. p<.001.
662 ALLWOOD, BELL, HORAN
numbing of anger were significantly related only to trau-
matic violence exposure at home, whereas numbing of
pleasant emotions was related only to indirect violence
at home. In addition, posttrauma arousal symptoms
were related to all types of trauma exposure and were
most strongly related to experiencing physical and ver-
bal abuse and indirect violence in the community.
Numbing of Emotions in Relation to Delinquent
Behaviors
As hypothesized, numbing of fearful emotions, as com-
pared to numbing of other emotions, was most strongly
associated with delinquent behaviors (see Table 3).
Specifically, numbing of fear was positively related to
all types of delinquent behaviors. Numbing of sad feel-
ings was significantly positively related to aggression
but was not related to other types of delinquent beha-
viors. Numbing of anger, numbing of pleasant emo-
tions, and posttrauma emotional numbing (nonspecific
emotions) were not significantly related to delinquent
behavior subtypes, but posttrauma emotional numbing
showed a trend toward a positive association with the
composite of delinquent behaviors. Conversely, post-
trauma emotional arousal was related to all types of
delinquent behaviors.
Predicting Delinquent Behaviors from Numbing and
Arousal
Hierarchical linear regressions were conducted to exam-
ine whether numbing of fear and sadness predicted
delinquent behaviors (Tables 4–6). Potential interactions
between numbing and arousal symptoms were assessed
in the final step of the regression models. To control
for multicollinearity, all variables except sex were cen-
tered at the mean (Aiken & West, 1991). For each
regression, sex, age, and PTSD Index arousal were
entered simultaneously at Step 1, followed by numbing
at Step 2, and the Arousal Numbing interaction term
at Step 3. The numbing variables at Steps 2 and 3 were
those that were significantly correlated with the respect-
ive delinquent behavior subscale (i.e., numbing of fear
for all subscales and composite scale; numbing of
sadness for Aggression subscale).
For the delinquent behaviors composite, sex, age, and
arousal symptoms were all significant at Step 1 (Table 4).
The addition of numbing of fear in Step 2 did not signifi-
cantly improve the model, but the interaction between
arousal and numbing of fear was significant, such that
high numbing of fear was significantly related to delin-
quent behaviors but only in the context of high post-
trauma arousal (‘‘high rates’’ defined as at or above
the mean). The Delinquent Behavior subscales showed
TABLE 2
Correlations Between Numbing of Emotions and Types of Violence Exposure
Community
Traumatic
Violence
Community
Physical & Verbal
Abuse
Community
Indirect
Violence
Home
Traumatic
Violence
Home
Physical & Verbal
Abuse
Home
Indirect
Violence
Numbing of Fear .30 .16 .20.37 .25 .27
Numbing of Anger .02 .15 .05 .21.06 .01
Numbing of Sadness .10 .02 .04 .31 .18 .18
Numbing of Positive .10 .01 .17 .16 .04 .20
Emotional Numbing (PTSD Index) .15 .31 .28 .04 .33 .23
Arousal (PTSD Index) .22.40 .40 .21.32 .27
Note: For the purposes of constructing an Emotional Numbing Scale, all Emotional Numbing Scale items were reversed scored for the previous
analyses. PTSD ¼posttraumatic stress disorder.
p<.05. p<.01. p<.001.
TABLE 3
Correlations Between Emotional Processing and Symptoms and Types of Delinquent Behaviors
Aggression Property Offense Disorderly Conduct Status Offense Delinquent Composite
Numbing of Fear (ENS) .38 .27 .26 .24.30
Numbing of Anger (ENS) .02 .08 .13 .18 .11
Numbing of Sadness (ENS) .23.16 .07 .09 .13
Numbing of Pleasant (ENS) .08 .05 .04 .01 .04
Emotional Numbing (PTSD Index) .15 .02 .06 .13 .09
Arousal (PTSD Index) .45 .36 .34 .35 .43
Note: ENS ¼Emotional Numbing Scale; PTSD ¼posttraumatic stress disorder.
p<.05. p<.01. p<.001.
EMOTIONAL NUMBING AND DELINQUENCY 663
slightly different patterns of relations to the predictors
(Table 5). For property offenses, results were similar
to those for the composite scores; age, sex, arousal,
and the interaction between arousal and numbing of
fear were significant predictors and in the same direction
as with the composite of delinquent behaviors. For dis-
orderly conduct, age and arousal symptoms emerged as
significant predictors, whereas for status offenses only
arousal was a significant predictor. Neither disorderly
conduct nor status offenses were predicted by numbing
of fear or its interaction with arousal after controlling
for covariates. Aggressive behavior was significantly
predicted by sex, arousal, numbing of fear, and the
interactions between arousal and numbing of fear
(Table 6). Similarly, numbing of sadness was predicted
by sex, arousal, and the interaction between arousal
and numbing of sadness. However, in contrast to the
significant positive association found for numbing of
fear, the main effect of numbing of sadness was not
significant.
Item-Level Analysis
To further deconstruct emotional numbing and arousal
in the prediction of aggressive behaviors and the delin-
quent composite score, we conducted post hoc item-level
correlation analyses, examining numbing of sadness and
fear items, as well as PTSD Index numbing and arousal
items. All four fear items (e.g., no fear in dangerous or
threatening situations) were significantly related to total
delinquent behaviors (r¼.20, p<.05 to r¼.31, p<.001)
and aggressive behaviors (r¼.25, p<.01 to r¼.39,
p<.001). However, for numbing of sadness, only items
that specified sadness in an interpersonal context (e.g.,
not experiencing sadness when someone special dies or
if someone said something hurtful or insulting) were
related to aggression and delinquency. Of the four poss-
ible ‘‘interpersonal sadness’’ items, one (sad when sepa-
rated from a loved one) was significantly correlated with
total delinquent behaviors (r¼.19, p<.05); three items
were significantly associated with aggressive behaviors
(r¼.24, p<.01 to r¼.33, p<.01) and the fourth
approached significance (r¼.18, p<.06). Numbing of
TABLE 5
Numbing Fear and Arousal in the Prediction of Property Offenses,
Disorderly Conduct, and Status Offenses
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
bSE bSE B SE
Numbing of Fear & Property Offenses
Sex .24 .85 .19.93 .17 .93
Age .13 .54 .12 .54 .09 .54
Posttrauma Arousal .40 .09 .39 .10 .38 .09
Numbing of Fear .12 .11 .13 .11
Arousal Fearlessness .18.02
R
2
¼.24 DR
2
¼.01 DR
2
¼.03
Numbing of Fear & Disorderly Conduct
Sex .17.56 .12.76 .10 .61
Age .21.35 .20.81 .17.35
Posttrauma Arousal .38 .06 .36 .26 .35 .06
Numbing of Fear .14 .07 .14 .07
Arousal Fearlessness .14 .01
R
2
¼.23 DR
2
¼.02 DR
2
¼.02
Numbing of Fear & Status Offenses
Sex .18.43 .13 .47 .12 .47
Age .19.27 .18.27 .15 .27
Posttrauma Arousal .39 .05 .38 .05 .37 .05
Numbing of Fear .11 .06 .11 .06
Arousal Fearlessness .12 .01
R
2
¼.23 DR
2
¼.01 DR
2
¼.02
Note: Arousal ¼posttrauma arousal; Fearlessness ¼numbing of
fear.
p<.05. p<.01. p<.001.
TABLE 4
Numbing of Fear and Arousal in the Prediction of Total Delinquent
Behaviors
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
bSE bSE bSE
Sex .24 1.75 .181.90 .16 1.68
Age .181.10 .161.10 .13 1.10
Posttrauma Arousal .48 .19 .46 .19 .45 .19
Numbing of Fear .14 .23 .15 .23
Arousal Fearlessness .18.04
R
2
¼.33 DR
2
¼.01 DR
2
¼.04
Note: Fearlessness ¼numbing of fear.
p<.05. p<.01. p<.001.
TABLE 6
Numbing of Fear and Sadness Along With Arousal in the Prediction
of Aggressive Behavior
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
bSE bSE bSE
Numbing of Fear
Sex .27 .34 .17.36 .13 .35
Age .10 .22 .08 .21 .03 .20
Posttrauma Arousal .50 .04 .46 .04 .45 .04
Numbing of Fear .25 .04 .25 .04
Arousal Fearlessness .26 .01
R
2
¼.33 DR
2
¼.05 DR
2
¼.06
Numbing of Sadness
Sex .24 .85 .20.95 .15 .94
Age .13 .54 .14 .54 .12 .52
Posttrauma Arousal .40 .09 .40 .09 .44 .09
Numbing of Sadness .09 .07 .14 .07
Arousal Low Sadness .23 .02
R
2
¼.24 DR
2
¼.00 DR
2
¼.06
Note: Arousal ¼posttrauma arousal; Fearlessness ¼numbing of
fear.
p<.05. p<.01. p<.001.
664 ALLWOOD, BELL, HORAN
sadness items that were not within an interpersonal con-
text (e.g., sadness at movies) were not significantly
related to aggressive or total delinquent behaviors. For
PTSD Index numbing of emotions, only one of the five
items was significantly related to any type of delinquent
behaviors. Thoughts of ‘‘not living a long life’’ was sig-
nificantly related to both aggressive (r¼.23, p<.01) and
total delinquent (r¼.23, p<.01) behaviors. In contrast,
all five PTSD Index arousal items (i.e., sleep problems,
angry outbursts, trouble concentrating, startle response,
hypervigilance) were significantly (or in one case, mar-
ginally) related to both aggressive behaviors (r¼.17,
p<.05 to r¼.50, p<.001) and the delinquent behavior
composite (r¼.17, p<.06 to r¼.49, p<.001).
DISCUSSION
Numbing of Fear and Detachment in Relation to
Trauma and Delinquency
Our study investigated the possibility that trauma-
related and delinquency-related emotional disengage-
ment are part of the same phenomenon. Diminution
of fear, or sensitivity to cues of impending danger (see
Frick, Lilienfeld, Ellis, Loney, & Silverthorn, 1999),
seems to be a key experience for youth who are exposed
to severe violence as well as those who commit delin-
quent behaviors, particularly aggressive acts. Of the
diminished emotions examined, we found that numbing
of fearful emotions was the most strongly related to
severe types of violence exposure, particularly traumatic
violence that occurred within the family home. In fact,
traumatic violence exposure was related more strongly
to numbing of fear than to more general PTSD numbing
symptoms. In turn, numbing of fear was stronger than
all other emotional numbing variables in predicting all
types of delinquent behaviors. Fearlessness also inter-
acted with posttrauma hyperarousal to predict several
types of delinquent behaviors. Taken together, these
findings further our understanding of posttrauma
emotional sequelae in youth and clarify mechanisms
involved in the association between trauma exposure
and delinquent behaviors. Moreover, our findings high-
light the important role that life experiences and sociali-
zation play in the development of diminished emotions,
callousness, and detachment.
Although numbing of sadness was less robustly
related to violence exposure and delinquent behavior
than was numbing of fear, its relationship to violence
exposure at home and aggressive behaviors can inform
our understanding of emotional experience and the cycle
of violence. Our findings revealed that the association
between numbing of sadness and aggression emerged
only in the context of interpersonal relationships. Lack
of empathy, detachment, and disengagement from
others have long been identified as significant risk fac-
tors for engaging in violent crimes (Cohen & Strayer,
1996). Our data suggest that an important mechanism
by which violence exposure, particularly within the fam-
ily, relates to violence perpetration in early adolescence
may be through interpersonal sadness, detachment,
and diminished empathy.
The Role of Arousal along With Diminished
Emotions
Our findings suggest that the relation of youths’
emotional numbing to their delinquent behavior is not
a simple one but instead one that must be understood
in the context of arousal symptoms. With the exception
of aggressive behaviors, the direct association between
numbing of fear and delinquent behaviors was no longer
significant after we controlled for demographics and
posttrauma arousal symptoms, suggesting that fearless-
ness might be less related to delinquent behaviors than
to trauma-related arousal. In fact, we found that the
direct effects of fearlessness on total delinquent beha-
viors was both mediated and moderated by posttrauma
arousal. In other words, posttrauma arousal served as
an indirect link (i.e., mediator) from trauma exposure
to delinquency and interacted with (i.e., moderated)
fearlessness, such that numbing of fear is significantly
related only to delinquent behaviors (property offenses
and delinquent composite) in the context of high-
arousal symptoms. Similarly, for numbing of sadness,
posttrauma arousal was both a significant mediator
and moderator, with numbing predicting aggressive
behavior only in the context of high-arousal symptoms.
These findings of increased delinquent behaviors
among trauma-exposed youth with elevated symptoms
of arousal may first appear to be contradictory to pre-
vious observations of increased risk for delinquent beha-
viors among youth who display autonomic hypoarousal
(Ortiz & Raine, 2004). Of several possible explanations
for these differences, two are considered here. One obvi-
ous difference between our study of arousal and pre-
vious studies linking hypoarousal to delinquency is our
use of a subjective assessment of arousal versus experi-
mental measures of autonomic arousal. Participants in
our study reported difficulties with concentration and
sleep, and symptoms of hypervigilance and startle, as
markers of arousal. These self-reported experiences can-
not be compared to findings drawn from measures of
skin conductance and heart rate.
A second consideration is that trauma symptoms,
including arousal, are reported in response to a parti-
cular life event. Thus the self-reported hyperarousal
may serve as a marker of the severity of the event or
the perceived severity of the event. As a result, the
EMOTIONAL NUMBING AND DELINQUENCY 665
association between self-reported posttrauma arousal
and delinquent behaviors may be confounded by event
severity. In contrast, experimental examination of auto-
nomic arousal is often conducted with a low-level, ethi-
cally informed stressor. Such low-level stressors might
generate less response (hyporesponse) from participants
as compared to subjective ratings of trauma-related
arousal. Likewise, relatively low-level acute stressors
are expected to generate less physiological stress activity
(i.e., anticipatory and reactivity) for youth with histories
of chronic or traumatic stress compared to their peers.
Limitations
Our findings regarding numbing of fear, interpersonal
detachment, and arousal highlight the potential role of
life experiences in the development of characteristics
that place youth at risk for delinquent behaviors. How-
ever, a few study limitations should be considered along
with the findings. First, it is likely that exposure to viol-
ence is lower for this self-selected sample as compared to
random sampling in larger urban areas. Although sam-
pling concerns exist, it is notable that this self-selected
sample still reported experiences of violence in their
communities and in their home and that more than
16% reported clinically significant PTSD symptoms.
Second, because delinquent behaviors begin to emerge
in early adolescence but do not peak until late ado-
lescence (Raudenbush & Chan, 1992), our sample of
early adolescents may be developmentally premature
for this examination of delinquent behaviors. Thus,
the data presented here may not fully reflect patterns
of emotional disengagement, posttrauma arousal, and
delinquency among older adolescents. In fact, repli-
cation of our study with a more developmentally mature
sample may yield stronger relationships among violence
exposure, emotion experiences, and delinquent beha-
vior. Third, the Emotional Numbing Scale was
developed for use with adults and may be less than ide-
ally suited to the assessment of youth emotional numb-
ing. The items on this measure were not adapted in any
way, and therefore some aspects of emotional numbing
of particular relevance to youth, such as being uncaring
about school and school performance, might have been
missed.
Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice
Our findings provide support for the notion that the
emotional traits often observed in delinquent youth
may be reflections of trauma-related numbing. These
findings are important in at least two ways. First, they
support the value of examining posttrauma numbing
of specific emotions versus focusing on more general
or unspecified reports of numbing. Based on our results,
full understanding of emotional numbing clearly
requires not only that it be separated from its current
DSM symptom companion of avoidance but also that
it be examined as an emotion-specific construct. Second,
our findings underscore the importance of considering
numbing, particularly of fear, in explanations of the
cycle of violence exposure and violence (i.e., aggression)
perpetration. We have much theory and evidence that
points to the relationship of exposure or victimization to
perpetration (Bandura, 1973; Widom, 1989; Williamson,
Borduin, & Howe, 1991) as well as suggestion that
characteristics of emotional experiences such as callous-
ness may help account for this link (e.g., Allwood &
Bell, 2008). Our study indicates that the detachment,
unemotionality, or callousness often observed to
accompany delinquent behavior may reflect trauma-
related emotional numbing. Our data also suggest that
the combination of high physiological arousal symp-
toms, coupled with an inability to feel emotions, may
place youth at particular risk for delinquent behavior.
Future research should focus on developing new mea-
sures that provide a well-defined and fine-grained assess-
ment of trauma-related diminishment of specific types of
emotional experiences across multiple contexts (e.g.,
interpersonal contexts, academic contexts). Improved
measurement is also expected to lead to prospective stu-
dies of the correlates and outcomes of emotional numb-
ing, particularly the assessment of fearlessness as a
potential mechanism by which violence exposure contri-
butes to delinquent and violent behaviors. Prospective
research should focus on associations among violence
exposure, numbing across emotional domains, unemo-
tional traits, callousness, and lack of empathy in the pre-
diction of later delinquent behaviors as well as in the
development of personality characteristics (e.g., psy-
chopathy) that may further promulgate delinquent and
criminal behaviors. Such research can guide clinical stra-
tegies for assessing and intervening in the cycle of viol-
ence as well as help guide child welfare and juvenile
justice policies that affect traumatized youth.
In conclusion, examination of PTSD symptoms,
particularly emotional numbing and arousal, in relation
to delinquent behaviors promises to be a rich area of
inquiry that may offer greater understanding to a num-
ber of unanswered questions. For example, it is
unknown whether youth with a history of fearfulness
due to the witnessing or being victimized by violence
learn to cognitively modulate fear and anxiety
responses, or whether the overactivated physiological
stress response system down regulates, leading to later
reductions in physiological reactivity to fear and stress.
Moreover, it is unknown how either of these cognitive
or physiological processes may increase traumatized
youths’ risk for involvement in aggressive and delin-
quent behaviors. Furthering our understanding requires
666 ALLWOOD, BELL, HORAN
a focus on the effects of early life events and subsequent
emotional symptoms, cognitions, and physiological
responses. Ignoring the sequelae of violence exposure
and other adverse life events in favor of chronicling
the aftermath of such events (e.g., resulting personality
and behavioral characteristics) may impede opportu-
nities for interventions.
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