Prevalence of psychopathic traits in the general child and adolescent population: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to systematically and meta-analytically review the scientific literature on the prevalence of psychopathic traits in the general child and adolescent population. A search of 11 bibliographic databases identified 18 studies published up to August 2026, in which 27,216 children and adolescents from 19 samples were assessed. Joint prevalence rates were calculated using inverse variance heterogeneity (IVhet) and random-effects models. Meta-regression analyses were performed to examine whether sex, age, country of origin, and psychopathic-trait instrument influenced prevalence. The meta-analytical results obtained allow us to estimate that the prevalence rate of psychopathic traits in the general child and adolescent population is between 3.04% (95% CI [1.61, 4.64]) and 4.15% (95% CI [3.12, 5.32]) for IVhet and random-effects models, respectively. This prevalence is similar to that found in adult samples from the general population, although slightly lower. Age, sex, country of origin, and psychopathic-trait instrument do not appear to significantly influence the prevalence of psychopathic traits, although these findings remain inconclusive given the limited number of available studies. These results and conclusions are discussed in the context of different theoretical perspectives on defining psychopathic traits in children and adolescents, and on their possible evolutionary trajectories throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.