The prevention of conduct problems

This article summarizes the current knowledge base in the prevention of childhood conduct problems. First, childhood conduct problems and comorbid conditions are described, followed by a review of risk factors that have been found to contribute to the development of conduct problems. Risk factors include both internal child characteristics such as temperament and genetic/neurobiological influences, and external factors such as family, peer, and neighborhood influences. Finally, descriptions are provided for several intervention programs that have demonstrated empirical support in the prevention of youth conduct problems.

Differential etiology of posttraumatic stress disorder with conduct disorder and major depression in male veterans

BACKGROUND

Epidemiologic studies reveal that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly comorbid with both conduct disorder and major depression in men. The genetic and environmental etiology of this comorbidity has not been examined.

METHODS

Data were analyzed from 6744 middle-aged male-male monozygotic and dizygotic twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Conduct disorder, major depression, and PTSD were assessed via telephone interview using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for the DSM-III-R in 1992. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate additive genetic, shared environmental, and individual-specific environmental effects common and specific to conduct disorder, major depression, and PTSD.

RESULTS

The association between conduct disorder and PTSD was explained primarily by common shared environmental influences; these explained 10% (95% confidence interval: 6%-17%) of the variance in PTSD. The association between major depression and PTSD was largely explained by common genetic influences; these explained 19% (95% confidence interval: 11%-26%) of the variance in PTSD.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that different etiologic mechanisms explain the association of conduct disorder and major depression with PTSD in male veterans. If replicated in other populations, results suggest research aimed at identifying specific genetic and environmental factors that influence PTSD may benefit from starting with those that have been more consistently and strongly associated with major depression and conduct disorder.

The gradual emergence of sex differences in aggression: alternative hypotheses

Nearly a century of observational studies and more recent longitudinal surveys reveal that, in infancy, girls and boys use force at similar rates. Over the next few years boys become significantly more aggressive. Alternative hypotheses accounting for the widening gender gap are evaluated. These include hypotheses about normative patterns of male escalation and female desistance; boys' preference for active play that promotes aggression; girls' tendency to hide aggression; girls' use of alternative forms of aggression; boys' increased risk for the cognitive and emotional problems that are linked to aggression; boys' sensitivity to situational triggers of aggression; and boys' vulnerability to adverse rearing environments. The evidence bearing on each hypothesis is mixed. In general, the overall difference between the sexes appears to be produced by a minority of boys who deploy aggression at high rates. Three general principles govern the emergence of sex differences in aggression: female precocity, male vulnerability, and the salience of sex as a social category that shapes children's lives.

Aggressive behaviour, victimization and crime among severely mentally ill patients requiring hospitalisation

BACKGROUND

Severe mental illness is associated with increased risk of aggressive behaviour, crime and victimization. Mental health policy does not acknowledge this evidence. The number of forensic beds has risen dramatically.

AIMS

To examine the prevalence of aggressive behaviour, victimization and criminality among people receiving in-patient treatment for severe mental illness in an inner-city area.

METHOD

Self-reports of aggressive behaviour and victimization and criminal records were collected for 205 in-patients with severe mental illness.

RESULTS

In the preceding 6 months 49% of the men and 39% of the women had engaged in aggressive behaviour and 57% of the men and 48% of the women had been victims of assault; 47% of the men and 17% of the women had been convicted of at least one violent crime.

CONCLUSIONS

Aggressive behaviour and victimization are common among severely mentally ill people requiring hospitalisation in the inner city. Rates of violent crime are higher than in the general population.

Association analysis of 15 polymorphisms within 10 candidate genes for antisocial behavioural traits

This study sought to test 15 simple sequence repeat polymorphisms within 10 candidate genes for association with antisocial behavioural traits. Genes included were those known to regulate dopamine synthesis and transmission in the brain (DBH, DRD2, MAOA, TFAP2B, NR4A2, LMX1B) and those involved in the differentiation of social and sexual behaviour in men and women (AR, ESR1, OXTR, AVPR1A). Participants were Caucasians (men=1007, women=1089) aged 20-24 years who were assessed for indicators of antisocial traits such as pseudo-maturity, substance misuse and unstable lifestyle. Significant associations for antisocial traits were found with AR and ESR1 polymorphisms in men, and with polymorphisms within NR4A2 and TFAP2B in women. The association with TFAP2B remained significant after correction for multiple testing. This pattern of associations suggests that genetic variation within transcription factors may in part explain the variation observed in the population for antisocial behavioural phenotypes.

Predicting prognosis for the conduct-problem boy: can family history help?

OBJECTIVE

Many children with conduct disorder develop life-course persistent antisocial behavior; however, other children exhibit childhood-limited or adolescence-limited conduct disorder symptoms and escape poor adult outcomes. Prospective prediction of long-term prognosis in pediatric and adolescent clinical settings is difficult. Improved prognosis prediction would support wise allocation of limited treatment resources. The purpose of this article is to evaluate whether family history of psychiatric disorder can statically predict long-term prognosis among conduct-problem children.

METHOD

Participants were male members of the Dunedin Study, a birth cohort of 1,037 children (52% male). Conduct-problem subtypes were defined using prospective assessments between ages 7 and 26 years. Family history interviews assessed mental disorders for three generations: the participants' grandparents, parents, and siblings.

RESULTS

Family history of externalizing disorders distinguished life-course persistent antisocial males from other conduct-problem children and added significant incremental validity beyond family and child risk factors. A simple three-item family history screen of maternal-reported alcohol abuse was associated with life-course persistent prognosis in our research setting and should be evaluated in clinical practice.

CONCLUSIONS

: Family history of externalizing disorders distinguished between life-course persistent versus childhood-limited and adolescent-onset conduct problems. Brief family history questions may assist clinicians in pediatric settings to refine the diagnosis of conduct disorder and identify children who most need treatment.

Kindergarten children's genetic vulnerabilities interact with friends' aggression to promote children's own aggression

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether kindergarten children's genetic liability to physically aggress moderates the contribution of friends' aggression to their aggressive behaviors.

METHOD

Teacher and peer reports of aggression were available for 359 6-year-old twin pairs (145 MZ, 212 DZ) as well as teacher and peer reports of aggression of the two best friends of each twin. Children's genetic risk for aggression was based on their cotwin's aggression status and the pair's zygosity.

RESULTS

Children's aggression was highly heritable. Unique environment accounted for most of the variance in friends' aggression, although there was also a small genetic contribution (15%). Both genetic liability to aggression and having aggressive friends predicted twins' aggression. However, the contribution of aggressive friends to children's aggression was strongest among genetically vulnerable children. This result was similar for boys and girls, despite sex differences in both aggression and the level of aggression of friends.

CONCLUSIONS

Affiliation with aggressive friends at school entry is a significant environmental risk factor for aggression, especially for children genetically at risk for aggressive behaviors. Developmental models of aggression need to take into account both genetic liability and environmental factors in multiple settings, such as the peer context, to more precisely describe and understand the various developmental pathways to aggression. The implications for early prevention programs are discussed.

A Genetically Informed Study of the Intergenerational Transmission of Marital Instability

Environmental or genetic influences, or both could account for the increased risk of divorce among the offspring of separated parents. Previous studies have used covariates to statistically control for confounds, but the present research is the first genetically informed study of the topic. The investigation used the Children of Twins Design with twins, their spouses, and their young adult offspring (n = 2,310) from the Australian Twin Registry to test whether selection on the basis of genetic or shared environment factors accounted for part of the inter-generational association. The analyses also controlled for measured characteristics of both parents. The results suggest that both environmentally mediated and genetic risk account for the intergenerational transmission, supporting the roles of both selection and causation.

Relationships between parental negativity and childhood antisocial behavior over time: a bidirectional effects model in a longitudinal genetically informative design

This study examined the direction and etiology underlying the relationships between parental negativity and early childhood antisocial behavior using a bidirectional effects model in a longitudinal genetically informative design. We analyzed parent reports of parental negativity and early childhood antisocial behavior in 6,230 pairs of twins at 4 and 7 years of age. Results from a cross-lagged twin model contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the bidirectional processes involved in parental negativity and childhood antisocial behavior. Specifically, the findings of this study suggest that the association between parenting and child antisocial behavior is best explained by both parent-driven and child-driven effects. We found support for the notion that parent's negative feelings towards their children environmentally mediate the risk for child antisocial behavior. We also found evidence of genetically mediated child effects; in which genetically influenced antisocial behavior evoke parental negativity towards the child.

SEXUAL SELECTION FOR MORAL VIRTUES

Moral evolution theories have emphasized kinship, reciprocity, group selection, and equilibrium selection. Yet, moral virtues are also sexually attractive. Darwin suggested that sexual attractiveness may explain many aspects of human morality. This paper updates his argument by integrating recent research on mate choice, person perception, individual differences, costly signaling, and virtue ethics. Many human virtues may have evolved in both sexes through mutual mate choice to advertise good genetic quality, parenting abilities, and/or partner traits. Such virtues may include kindness, fidelity, magnanimity, and heroism, as well as quasi-moral traits like conscientiousness, agreeableness, mental health, and intelligence. This theory leads to many testable predictions about the phenotypic features, genetic bases, and social-cognitive responses to human moral virtues.

Sex differences in child-onset, life-course-persistent conduct disorder. A review of biological influences

Sex is widely acknowledged to be an important factor in understanding many aspects of behavior, not the least of which is antisocial behavior. When antisocial behavior manifests itself in the domain of juvenile psychopathology, it often takes the form of a type of conduct disorder (CD) that begins in childhood and is life-course-persistent. There is an overwhelming consensus that there is a massive male preponderance in this type of CD and that biological variables are major influences on this difference. This review built on this consensual scaffolding in an attempt to provide some useful leads for identifying the biological contributions to the predominantly male complexion of life-course-persistent CD by linking it to three different levels of biological mechanisms.

Interfaces: toward a new generation of systemic models in family research and practice

After reviewing Engel's bio-psycho-social proposal and Kandel's "principles for an integration between mind and brain," the author introduces a set of akin propositions that aim at integrating neurosciences, genetics, the mind, and the social world into a succinct set of systemic formulations focusing on interlevel interfaces, with profound implications for the training, practice, and research in the field of family processes and therapy.

Detrimental Psychological Outcomes Associated with Early Pubertal Timing in Adolescent Girls

Though often discussed as though it were a discrete event, puberty comprises one segment of a larger developmental continuum and is notable for rapid transformation across a multitude of domains. Research suggests that an earlier rate of pubertal maturation in girls correlates with a number of detrimental outcomes compared with on-time or later maturation. The present review synthesizes the research on negative psychological sequelae of early pubertal timing in adolescent girls. Emphasis is on three theoretical perspectives by which precocious development is believed to affect the emergence of adverse outcomes: biological, psychosocial, and selection effects.

Environmental contributions to adolescent delinquency: a fresh look at the shared environment

Few genetically-informative studies have attempted to explicitly identify the shared environmental (i.e., those environmental influences that contribute to sibling similarity) factors now known to contribute to adolescent delinquency. The current study therefore examined whether the parent-child relationship served as one source of these shared environmental influences. Participants were 610 adoptive and biological families from the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS). Parents and adolescents reported on their parent-child conflict and parental involvement with child, and adolescents reported on their own delinquent behaviors. We employed structural equation modeling and supplementary multilevel modeling, finding consistent evidence that the association between delinquency and the parent-child relationship is at least partially shared environmental in origin. Such findings provide an important extension of previous twin studies, as they suggest that passive genotype-environment correlations do not explain earlier findings of shared environmental influences on this association.

Gene-environment correlations: a review of the evidence and implications for prevention of mental illness

Family studies have demonstrated genetic influences on environmental exposure: the phenomenon of gene-environment correlation (rGE). A few molecular genetic studies have confirmed the results, but the identification of rGE in studies that measure genes and environments faces several challenges. Using examples from studies in psychology and psychiatry, we integrate the behavioral and molecular genetic literatures on rGE, describe challenges in identifying rGE and discuss the implications of molecular genetic findings of rGE for future research on gene-environment interplay and for attempts to prevent disease by reducing environmental risk exposure. Genes affect environments indirectly, via behavior and personality characteristics. Associations between individual genetic variants and behaviors are typically small in magnitude, and downstream effects on environmental risk are further attenuated by behavioral mediation. Genotype-environment associations are most likely to be detected when the environment is behaviorally modifiable and highly specified and a plausible mechanism links gene and behavior. rGEs play an important causal role in psychiatric illness. Although research efforts should concentrate on elucidating the genetic underpinnings of behavior rather than the environment itself, the identification of rGE may suggest targets for environmental intervention even in highly heritable disease. Prevention efforts must address the possibility of confounding between rGE and gene-environment interaction (G x E).

Adolescent girls and criminal activity: role of MAOA-LPR genotype and psychosocial factors

Recent findings among boys show that interactions between a polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase A gene promoter region (MAOA-LPR) and psychosocial factors predict criminal activity. The objective of this study was to investigate whether this finding could be extended to adolescent girls. One hundred nineteen female adolescents were recruited among respondents to a cross-sectional study of the total population of 16- and 19-year old girls. These girls constituted a randomly selected sub-sample from groups representing different degrees of risk behavior. The subjects filled in a questionnaire and were interviewed and genotyped with regard to MAOA-LPR. The results indicate that the long, (4-repeat) allele confer an increased risk for criminal behavior in the presence of psychosocial risk. Among girls without social risk, MAOA-LPR genotype was of no importance for criminal behavior. The present results suggest that previous observations on adolescent males, which demonstrate that the short MAOA-LPR genotype and psychosocial adversity interact to predict criminal activity, may not be applicable to females.

Aggression as a mediator of genetic contributions to the association between negative parent-child relationships and adolescent antisocial behavior

Previous research suggests that the association between conflictual parent-child relationships and maladjustment among adolescents is influenced by genetic effects emanating from the adolescents. In this study, we examined whether these effects are mediated by childhood aggression. The data come from the Twin study of CHild and Adolescent Development (TCHAD), a Swedish longitudinal study including 1,314 twin pairs followed from age 13-14 to 16-17. Early adolescent aggression, parental criticism, and delinquency in later adolescence were rated by parents and children at different time points. Multivariate genetic structural equation models were used to estimate genetic and environmental influences on these constructs and on their covariation. The results showed that approximately half of the genetic contribution to the association between parental criticism and delinquency was explained by early adolescent aggression. It suggests that aggression in children evokes negative parenting, which in turn influences adolescent antisocial behavior. The mechanism proposed by these findings is consistent with evocative gene-environment correlation.

Genetic variation and shared biological susceptibility underlying comorbidity in neuropsychiatry

Genetic factors underlying alcoholism, substance abuse, antisocial and violent behaviour, psychosis, schizophrenia and psychopathy are emerging to implicate dopaminergic and cannabinoid, but also monoaminergic and glutamatergic systems through the maze of promoter genes and polymorphisms. Candidate gene association studies suggest the involvement of a range of genes in different disorders of CNS structure and function. Indices of comorbidity both complicate the array of gene-involvement and provide a substrate of hazardous interactivity. The putative role of the serotonin transporter gene in affective-dissociative spectrum disorders presents both plausible genetic variation and complication of comorbidity The position of genetic variation is further complicated through ethnic, contextual and social factors that provide geometric progressions in the comordity already underlying diagnostic obstacles. The concept of shared biological susceptibility to two or more disorder conditions of comorbidity seems a recurring observation, e.g., bipolar disorder with alcoholism or schizophrenia with alcohol/substance abuse or diabetes with schizopsychotic disorder. Several lines of evidence seem to suggest that the factors influencing variation in one set of symptoms and those affecting one or more disorders are observed to a marked extent which ought to facilitate the search for susceptibility genes in comorbid brain disorders. Identification of regional genetic factors is awaited for a more compelling outline that ought eventually to lead to greater efficacy of symptom-disorder arrangements and an augmentation of current pharmacological treatment therapies.

How gene–stress–behavior interactions can promote adolescent alcohol use: The roles of predrinking allostatic load and childhood behavior disorders

A variety of environmental and genetic factors modulating the risk for alcoholism have been described, which predominantly act by interacting with each other. For example, the family, peers and society determine the level of exposure to stress and alcohol, while genes modulate how sensitive an individual responds to both. The resulting behaviors feed back to the social environment, modulating and in the worst case increasing further stress exposure. We here review neurobiological evidence how such a process of mutual interaction can involve and affect drinking. In at-risk adolescents it may have been in force for many years before they have their first alcoholic drink, increasing their risk for addiction by generating allostatic load. As an example, psychiatric disorders involving attention deficit, hyperactivity, or disruptive behaviors first evolve during childhood and are influenced by all the above factors. They are also strongly associated with harmful adolescent drinking and later alcohol use disorders. One important implication of this concept is that issues such as family adversity, adolescent psychiatric disorders, or adolescent drinking might not only be associated with, but causally related to, the risk for later addiction. They are targets for preventive interventions, which should start as early as possible in subjects at-risk.

Anger/frustration, task persistence, and conduct problems in childhood: a behavioral genetic analysis

BACKGROUND

Individual differences in conduct problems arise in part from proneness to anger/frustration and poor self-regulation of behavior. However, the genetic and environmental etiology of these connections is not known.

METHOD

Using a twin design, we examined genetic and environmental covariation underlying the well-documented correlations between anger/frustration, poor attention regulation (i.e., task persistence), and conduct problems in childhood. Participants included 105 pairs of MZ twins and 154 pairs of same-sex DZ twins (4-8 year olds). Independent observers rated child persistence and affect based on behavior during a challenging in-home cognitive and literacy assessment. Teachers and parents provided reports of conduct problems.

RESULTS

Persistence, anger/frustration, and conduct problems included moderate heritable and nonshared environmental variance; conduct problems included moderate shared environmental variance as well. Persistence and anger/frustration had independent genetic covariance with conduct problems and nonshared environmental covariance with each other.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate genetically distinct though inter-related influences linking affective and self-regulatory aspects of temperament with behavior problems in childhood.

Case-control and within-family tests for an association between conduct disorder and 5HTTLPR

Several lines of research have suggested that serotonin dysfunction is associated with aggression, impulsivity, and antisocial behavior. A functional polymorphism in the promoter region (s, short and l, long allele variant) of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) that results in decreased transcription of the serotonin transporter gene has been linked with such serotonin dysfunction. To test for an association between 5HTTLPR genotype and conduct disorder diagnosis/aggression. Analysis for association between 5HTTLPR and conduct disorder/aggression using a case-control design and the transmission disequilibrium test. Conduct-disordered adolescents, who were drawn from admissions to a program that treats adolescents with serious substance and behavior problems, and conduct-disordered siblings of these patients (n, 297) were compared with non-conduct-disordered control adolescents and non-conduct-disordered siblings of these controls (n, 93). Second, using patient families where parental DNA was available, transmission disequilibrium tests were conducted for two phenotypes: (1) conduct disorder (74 trios), and (2) conduct disorder with at least one aggressive symptom (57 trios). Case-control analyses suggested a strong association between the ss genotype and conduct disorder (chi2(2) = 14.3; P < 0.01). Within-family analyses for conduct disorder with at least one aggressive symptom significantly favored greater transmission of the s-allele to affected offspring (chi(tdt)(2) = 4.13; P = 0.04); for conduct disorder, without aggressive symptoms, however, results were non-significant (chi(tdt)(2) = 1.61; P = 0.20). These data suggest that the s-allele may confer some risk for aggressive behavior or may be in linkage disequilibrium with such an allele.

A study of disruptive behavior disorders in Puerto Rican youth: I. Background, design, and survey methods

OBJECTIVE

This is the first of two related articles on a study carried out between 2000 and 2003 designed to assess the prevalence, associated comorbidities, and correlates of disruptive behavior disorders in two populations of Puerto Rican children: one in the Standard Metropolitan Areas of San Juan and Caguas in Puerto Rico, and the other in the south Bronx in New York City.

METHOD

This article provides the study's background, design, and methodology. Probability samples of children ages 5 to 13 years were drawn at the two sites (n = 2,491). Subjects and their primary caretakers were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-IV and a wide array of risk factor measures. The samples were weighted to correct for differences in the probability of selection resulting from sample design and to adjust for differences from the 2000 U.S. Census in the age/gender distribution.

RESULTS

The samples are representative of the populations of Puerto Rican children in the south Bronx and in the Standard Metropolitan Areas in Puerto Rico. Of the 2,940 children identified as eligible for the study, 2,491 participated for an overall compliance rate of 85%.

CONCLUSIONS

The study results, to be described in an accompanying report, are generalizable to the two target populations.

Heritability for adolescent antisocial behavior differs with socioeconomic status: gene-environment interaction

BACKGROUND

Socioeconomic status is often assumed to be of importance for the development of antisocial behavior, yet it explains only a fraction of the variance. One explanation for this paradox could be that socioeconomic status moderates the influence of genetic and environmental effects on antisocial behavior.

METHOD

TCHAD is a Swedish longitudinal population-based twin study that contains 1,480 twin pairs born 1985-1986. The present study included 1,133 twin pairs, aged 16-17 years. Antisocial behavior was measured through self-report. Family socioeconomic status was assessed by parental-reported education and occupational status. Neighborhood socioeconomic conditions were assessed using five aggregated level variables: ethnic diversity, basic educational level, unemployment level, buying power, and crime-rate. We used structural equation modeling to test whether socioeconomic status interacted with latent genetic and environmental effects for antisocial behavior.

RESULTS

Genetic influences on antisocial behavior were more important in adolescents in socioeconomically more advantaged environments, whereas the shared environment was higher in adolescents in socioeconomically less advantaged environments. Heritability for antisocial behavior was higher in girls than in boys, irrespective of socioeconomic background.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that different intervention policies should be considered in different socioeconomic areas. In socioeconomically advantaged areas, it might be more fruitful to focus on individually based preventions and treatments. In socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, intervention and prevention policies might be more effective on a community level, to account for shared environmental risk factors.

The association of early adolescent problem behavior and adult psychopathology: a multivariate behavioral genetic perspective

Research has documented a strong association between early adolescent problem behavior and adult disinhibitory psychopathology, leading some to suggest that the latter can be reduced by preventing or delaying the former. But the prevention implications of this association necessarily depend upon the causal mechanisms that produce it. The current study was designed to test implications of a model that posits that early problem behavior and disinhibitory psychopathology are associated because they are both manifestations of a common inherited liability. At their age-17 assessment, 1080 twins from the older cohort of the Minnesota Twin Family Study reported whether and the age at which they first: drank alcohol, used tobacco, used illicit drugs, had sexual intercourse, and had police contact. An Early Problem Behavior index was computed by summing the number of these experiences each participant reported having before age 15. Outcome measures of disinhibitory psychopathology were assessed by clinical interview at the age-20 follow-up and included number of symptoms of nicotine dependence, alcohol abuse and dependence, drug abuse and dependence, and adult antisocial behavior. Biometric analysis of the multivariate twin data showed that: (1) early adolescent problem behavior is weakly heritable (approximately 20%), (2) the common factor underlying disinhibitory psychopathology is strongly heritable (approximately 75%), and (3) the phenotypic correlation between early adolescent problem behavior and disinhibitory psychopathology was strong (approximately 0.60) and accounted for primarily by genetic factors common to the two domains. Findings are discussed in the context of research on the prevention and developmental nature of substance use disorders and related psychopathology.

Genes and Developmental Stabiltiy of Aggressive Behavior Problems at Home and School in a Community Sample of Twins Aged 7–12

Though behavioral genetic studies of aggression have implicated heritable and environmental factors, there is limited understanding of how these factors influence aggression across different settings and over time. Ratings for 732 twins were collected from parents and teachers during middle childhood and early adolescence. Total aggression scores on the Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF) were examined at each age, across both settings, and developmentally. In this sample, aggressive behavior was moderately to largely heritable at each age within the home (.76-.84) and school (.42-.61). Across each age, ratings by parents and teachers were moderately correlated (.19-.36). Genetic and environmental effects that were limited to a particular setting were important etiological factors for aggressive behavior consistently within each setting, while only genetic factors influenced levels of aggression across both settings. Stability during these ages was due to genetic effects common to each age and the persistence of child-specific environmental experiences within each setting. These results suggest that genetic and environmental influences on children's aggressive behavior are largely setting specific. Levels of aggression seen consistently across both settings are due to genetic influences. Developmentally stable levels of aggressive behavior result from genetic influences common to all ages and individual environmental influences whose effects persist across ages.

Linking Substance Use and Problem Behavior Across Three Generations

This study examined patterns of between-generation continuity in substance use from generation 1 (G1) parents to generation 2 (G2) adolescents and from G2 adult substance use and G1 substance use to generation 3 (G3) problem behavior in childhood. Structural equation modeling of prospective, longitudinal data from 808 participants, their parents, and their children showed low levels of G1 to G2 cross-generational continuity in the general tendency to use drugs. This effect was fully mediated by G2 early adolescent behavior problems. Drug-specific residual effects were observed across generations for cigarette smoking. Once established in adolescence, substance use in G2 showed stability over time. G2 substance use at age 27 significantly predicted G3 problem behavior. G1 substance use also was related to G3 problem behavior indirectly. These findings highlight the importance of interrupting intergenerational cycles of substance use and problem behavior.

Neuroscience and legal determination of criminal responsibility

Neuroscience is increasingly identifying associations between biology and violence that appear to offer courts evidence relevant to criminal responsibility. In addition, in a policy era of 'zero tolerance of risk', evidence of biological abnormality in some of those who are violent, or biological markers of violence, may be seized on as a possible basis for preventive detention in the interest of public safety. However, there is a mismatch between questions that the courts and society wish answered and those that neuroscience is capable of answering. This poses a risk to the proper exercise of justice and to civil liberties.

Association study of androgen receptor CAG repeat polymorphism and male violent criminal activity

Androgens exert their effects primarily by stimulating androgen receptors (ARs) and androgen activity has been implicated in antisocial or violent criminal behaviour. Exon 1 of the AR gene contains a highly polymorphic glutamine (CAG) repeat sequence. We tested the hypothesis that shorter AR CAG repeat polymorphisms, which have a greater AR gene expression, are related to violent criminal activity in Chinese males using a sample of 146 extremely violent criminals and 108 normal controls. The results show no association between the AR repeat length and violent convicts, although we found that there are more violent-criminal cases than control cases with the shorter (<17) AR gene trinucleotide repeat polymorphisms (7.5% vs. 1.9%; P=0.047). No correlation was found between the AR CAG repeat length and the first criminal record age in the violent-criminal group. The mean AR repeat length is not significantly different between substance dependence cases and antisocial personality disorder diagnosis in the violent criminals and normal controls. Our findings suggest that the AR CAG repeat polymorphism does not play a major role in the susceptibility of male violent criminal activity.

The intergenerational transmission of externalizing behaviors in adult participants: the mediating role of childhood abuse

Childhood abuse was investigated as a potential mediator of the intergenerational transmission of externalizing behaviors (EXT) in adulthood among a large general population sample drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey. Community participants (N = 5,424) underwent diagnostic and psychosocial interviews and reported on their own adult symptoms of antisocial behavior and substance dependence, parental symptoms, and childhood abuse history. Multiple group structural equation modeling revealed that (a) EXT in parents was associated with childhood abuse in offspring, particularly among mother- daughter dyads, (b) abuse had a unique influence on adult EXT in offspring above parental EXT, and (c) abuse accounted for the relationship between parental EXT and offspring EXT in female but not male participants. This article emphasizes the importance of examining different environmental processes which may explain familial transmission of destructive behaviors in men and women and highlights the importance of family interventions that target parental symptoms to ameliorate risk to offspring.

Will future forensic assessment be neurobiologic?

During the past two decades, research on the role of biologic factors in antisocial behavior has made great progress. This article discusses recent findings and their possible implications for future forensic assessment and treatment. In addition, some relevant philosophical, ethical, and political questions are brought forward.

Deviant Peer Affiliation and Problem Behavior: A Test of Genetic and Environmental Influences

This study uses a multitrait, multimethod (MTMM) approach to investigate the genetic and environmental etiologies of childhood deviant peer affiliation (DPA) and problem behavior (PROB). The variability of genetic and environmental estimates by agent and method is also examined. A total of 77 monozygotic and 72 dizygotic twin pairs and each twin's close friend were assessed. The informants included parents, teachers, and twins, and the methods involved questionnaire reports and coder ratings of videotaped dyadic interactions between each twin and their close friend. Twin intraclass correlations and univariate models attributed DPA and PROB to genetic, and shared and nonshared environmental effects. Parameter estimates differed by rater and method, however. Results accentuate the imperative to attend to method effects inherent in MTMM behavioral geneticresearch.

The development of psychopathy

The current review focuses on the construct of psychopathy, conceptualized as a clinical entity that is fundamentally distinct from a heterogeneous collection of syndromes encompassed by the term 'conduct disorder'. We will provide an account of the development of psychopathy at multiple levels: ultimate causal (the genetic or social primary cause), molecular, neural, cognitive and behavioral. The following main claims will be made: (1) that there is a stronger genetic as opposed to social ultimate cause to this disorder. The types of social causes proposed (e.g., childhood sexual/physical abuse) should elevate emotional responsiveness, not lead to the specific form of reduced responsiveness seen in psychopathy; (2) The genetic influence leads to the emotional dysfunction that is the core of psychopathy; (3) The genetic influence at the molecular level remains unknown. However, it appears to impact the functional integrity of the amygdala and orbital/ventrolateral frontal cortex (and possibly additional systems); (4) Disruption within these two neural systems leads to impairment in the ability to form stimulus-reinforcement associations and to alter stimulus-response associations as a function of contingency change. These impairments disrupt the impact of standard socialization techniques and increase the risk for frustration-induced reactive aggression respectively.

Predictors of antisocial behaviour in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

INTRODUCTION

Antisocial behaviour is an important adverse outcome of ADHD. The aim of this review is to examine what is known about the clinical, genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the link between ADHD and antisocial behaviour.

METHODS

Electronic literature searches for the years 1980-2004 and examination of key reference books were undertaken.

RESULTS

ADHD symptom severity and pervasiveness predict the development of antisocial behaviour. Genetic factors contribute substantially to the risk of developing both problems, although specific genes that influence the development of antisocial behaviour in ADHD have yet to be identified. Some of these genetic effects may be indirectly mediated through environmental risk (gene-environment correlation) or by increasing individual susceptibility to specific environmental adversity (gene-environment interaction). Antisocial behaviour in children with ADHD is also linked with family adversity as well as peer rejection, although some of this adversity may arise as a result of the child's symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Despite the increased risk of antisocial outcomes in those with ADHD, relatively little is known about what risk factors and mechanisms contribute to the link between both these problems. Given the need for appropriate intervention and prevention strategies and targeting resources, more research is needed in this area.

Genetic and environmental contributions to common psychopathologies of childhood and adolescence: a study of twins and their siblings

We report findings based on analyses of self-reports of six common adolescent psychopathologies (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD; conduct disorder, CD; oppositional defiant disorder, ODD; generalized anxiety disorder, GAD; separation anxiety disorder, SAD; and major depressive disorder, MDD) in a sample of 1,162 male and female adolescent (12-19 years) twin pairs and 426 siblings. Prevalence statistics for past year and lifetime reports confirm differences between genders for CD, GAD, SAD, and MDD, and a lack of differences between twins and their non-twin siblings. Biometrical modeling was conducted to ascertain the relative influences of genes, and shared and non-shared environments contributing to these disorders. A more robust estimate of these parameters was obtained by including non-twin siblings. Age-specific thresholds were integrated into the analyses to appropriately model the developmental patterns of behavior. We found evidence for both genetic and non-shared environmental influences for all disorders. Shared environmental influences also seem to be important for MDD and lifetime GAD.

Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Associations Between Social Behavior and Literacy Achievement in a Sample of Low-Income Elementary School Children

This study investigates associations between social skills (aggression and prosocial behavior) and literacy achievement in a sample of low-income children (between 4 and 6 years old when the study began) during elementary school. Results revealed consistent associations between social skills and literacy achievement in the first, third, and fifth grades, but the patterns of the associations were different for aggression and prosocial behavior. While the strength of the association between aggression and literacy achievement increased over the elementary grades, the association between prosocial behavior and literacy achievement decreased. In addition, path analyses revealed that poor literacy achievement in the first and third grades predicted relatively high aggressive behavior in the third and fifth grades, respectively.

Role of monoamine oxidase A genotype and psychosocial factors in male adolescent criminal activity

BACKGROUND

A number of important sociological, psychological, and biological predictors of adolescent criminal behavior have been identified during the most recent decades. The aim of this study was to replicate recent findings that interactions between a polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) gene promoter region and psychosocial factors might predict male adolescent criminal activity.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study with a randomized sample from the total population of 16- and 19-year-olds from the county of Västmanland, Sweden. Eighty-one male adolescents, who volunteered to participate, were randomly selected from groups representing different degrees of deviant risk behavior.

RESULTS

The present study strongly supports the notion that carrying the 3-repeat allele of the MAO-A-gene promoter increases the risk of male adolescent criminal behavior, when interacting with psychosocial factors. No effects at all of the MAO-A genotype on adolescent criminal activity were found when MAO-A genotype was considered alone (i.e., without its psychosocial context). The explained variance of the bio-psychosocial model (controlling for MAO-A) in this study exceeded the psychosocial model by 12%.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings support the notion that genotype and psychosocial factors interact to precipitate male adolescent criminal behavior.

Symptom-based subfactors of DSM-defined conduct disorder: evidence for etiologic distinctions

Past research investigating the structure of conduct disorder (CD) symptoms has provided evidence of a phenotypic distinction between aggressive and rule-breaking subfactors of CD. However, evidence of etiologic distinctions between these subfactors has not been reported to date. In the current study, the authors investigated this issue in a sample of 1,151 male twins who were 17 years of age. The results indicate that aggressive and rule-breaking CD subfactors have both common and distinct etiologic influences, with shared environmental influences playing a significant role in rule-breaking behaviors. The authors discuss implications of these findings for the assessment and treatment of CD.

Preferência musical, atitudes e comportamentos anti-sociais entre estudantes adolescentes: um estudo correlacional

Considerando que a preferência musical é pouco estudada para compreensão do comportamento anti-social, pretenderam-se conhecer as relações que esse construto guarda com os comportamentos desviantes, tendo em conta também as atitudes frente ao uso de maconha. Contou-se com uma amostra de 548 estudantes do ensino médio de escolas públicas (46,4%) e privadas (53,6%), sendo a maioria do sexo feminino (54,9%). Os participantes responderam à Escala de Preferência Musical, Escala de Atitudes frente ao Uso de Maconha e Escala de Condutas Anti-sociais e Delitivas, além de perguntas de caráter sociodemográfico. Os resultados indicaram que a preferência por estilos musicais anticonvencionais (heavy metal e rap) se correlacionou diretamente com as atitudes favoráveis frente ao uso de maconha e com os comportamentos anti-sociais e delitivos. Por outro lado, a preferência pelos estilos convencionais (pop music e música religiosa) apresentou um padrão de correlação inverso com essas variáveis. Foram observadas diferenças na preferência musical, nas atitudes frente ao uso de maconha e nos comportamentos anti-sociais e delitivos em função do sexo, tendo as mulheres se ajustado mais aos padrões convencionais vigentes. Esses resultados são consistentes com os previamente publicados. Conclui-se, todavia, que existe ainda um longo caminho a se explorar para que se possa oferecer uma explicação definitiva sobre a influência das preferências musicais.

Heritability of substance dependence in a native American population

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the heritability of substance dependence and associated symptoms in a sample of Southwest California (Mission) Indians.

METHODS

Families from eight contiguous Indian reservations were recruited in order to ascertain information on substance dependence symptoms and diagnoses using a semi-structured diagnostic interview. Dependence diagnoses for alcohol, marijuana, stimulants and a measure of regular tobacco usage, any drug dependence or tobacco usage were obtained. Composite measures of alcohol dependence symptoms for withdrawal, drinking severity, antisocial problems and interpersonal problems were constructed from the nine groups of symptoms summarized in the diagnostic interview. Heritability estimates were calculated using variance component methods, as implemented in SOLAR.

RESULTS

In this population, marijuana dependence (0.38) and regular tobacco use (0.43), alcohol dependence (DSM-III-R 0.19; ICD-10, 0.29) and stimulant dependence (0.25) showed evidence for moderate genetic influences as determined by heritability estimates. Four phenotypes constructed using the composite symptoms of alcohol dependence revealed that withdrawal had the highest heritability estimate (0.71), followed by antisocial problems (0.36) and drinking severity (0.34). Symptom clusters reflecting interpersonal problems did not appear to be highly heritable (0.19).

CONCLUSION

Marijuana dependence, regular tobacco usage and composite phenotypes constructed from alcohol dependence symptoms for antisocial problems, drinking severity and withdrawal generally have patterns of familial aggregation, suggesting that they can be successfully used for linkage analysis in this Southwest California Indian sample.

The new look of behavioral genetics in developmental psychopathology: gene-environment interplay in antisocial behaviors

This article reviews behavioral-genetic research to show how it can help address questions of causation in developmental psychopathology. The article focuses on studies of antisocial behavior, because these have been leading the way in investigating environmental as well as genetic influences on psychopathology. First, the article illustrates how behavioral-genetic methods are being newly applied to detect the best candidates for genuine environmental causes among the many risk factors for antisocial behavior. Second, the article examines findings of interaction between genes and environments (G x E) associated with antisocial behavior, outlining steps for testing hypotheses of measured G x E. Third, the article envisages future work on gene-environment interplay, arguing that it is an interesting and profitable way forward for psychopathology research.

The consequences of Conduct Disorder for males who develop schizophrenia: associations with criminality, aggressive behavior, substance use, and psychiatric services

Men with schizophrenia are at increased risk, as compared to the general population, for criminal offending and to have displayed Conduct Disorder (CD) before age 15. The present study examined the consequences of CD among a sample of 248 men with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder, aged, on average, 39 years old. Participants were intensively assessed at discharge from the hospital and four times during the subsequent two-year period. CD was associated with criminality and substance misuse among first-degree male relatives and substance misuse among female relatives. In childhood and adolescence, CD was associated with poor academic performance, substance abuse, and physical abuse. In adulthood, the diagnosis of CD and each CD symptom were associated with increased non-violent and violent criminal offending, after adjusting for life-time diagnoses of substance misuse disorders. CD was not associated with homicide. CD was associated with life-time diagnoses of alcohol and drug abuse and/or dependence. During the 24 month follow-up period, CD and the number of CD symptoms were associated with aggressive behavior, controlling for life-time diagnoses of substance use disorders, substance misuse measured objectively and subjectively, medication compliance, and obligatory care. CD was associated with an earlier age at onset of schizophrenia and at first admission to hospital, and with length of time spent in hospital. During the two-year follow-up period, neither the diagnosis of CD nor the number of CD symptoms was associated with levels of positive and negative symptoms assessed five times, compliance with medication, substance use, or readmission. The results are interpreted to suggest that CD is a distinct co-morbid disorder that runs parallel to the course of schizophrenia.

Neuroimaging in psychopathy

OBJECTIVE

The biological basis of psychopathy remains to be fully elucidated. Evidence suggests a genetic contribution and dysfunction of the serotonin system. The objective of this article is to review the contribution of the neuroimaging of the last decade to our understanding of psychopathy.

METHOD

A literature search was conducted using PubMed and the words psychopath, antisocial personality disorder, dissocial personality disorder, violence, image and imaging. In addition, the reference lists of the identified papers, and recent textbooks, were perused for additional sources.

RESULTS

Five structural and 15 functional neuroimaging studies were selected and examined. Structural studies have reported decreased prefrontal grey matter, decreased posterior hippocampal volume and increased callosal white matter, but to this point, these have not been replicated. Functional studies suggest reduced perfusion and metabolism in the frontal and temporal lobes. Abnormalities of function have been reported, predominantly in frontal and temporal lobe structures during classical conditioning and response inhibition tasks, and in the processing of emotional words and pictures.

CONCLUSION

Functional neuroimaging strongly suggests dysfunction of particular frontal and temporal lobe structures in psychopathy. However, there are difficulties in selecting homogeneous index cases and appropriate control groups. Further studies are necessary. Responses depend on genetic endowment, early life experience, the sociocultural context and the significance of any stimulus to the individual.

How are parent-child conflict and childhood externalizing symptoms related over time? Results from a genetically informative cross-lagged study

The present study attempted to determine the direction and etiology of the robust relationship between childhood externalizing (EXT) symptoms and parent-child conflict using a genetically informative longitudinal model and data from the ongoing Minnesota Twin Family Study. Participants consisted of 1,506 same-sex twins assessed at ages 11 and 14, and their parents. The relationship between EXT and parent-child conflict from ages 11 to 14 was examined within a biometrical cross-lagged design. The results revealed three primary findings: first, the stability of conflict and externalizing over time is largely, although not solely, a result of genetic factors. Second, there appears to be a bidirectional relationship between conflict and EXT over time, such that both conflict and EXT at 11 independently predict the other 3 years later. Finally, the results are consistent with the notion that parent-child conflict partially results from parental responses to their child's heritable externalizing behavior, while simultaneously contributing to child externalizing via environmental mechanisms. These results suggest a "downward spiral" of interplay between parent-child conflict and EXT, and offer confirmation of a (partially) environmentally mediated effect of parenting on child behavior.

The development of antisocial behaviour from childhood to adolescence. A longitudinal twin study

Recent theory proposes that aggressive and nonaggressive antisocial behaviour (ASB) represent different pathways toward delinquency. It has also been suggested that Aggressive ASB is heritable, whereas nonaggressive ASB is more influenced by shared environment. The twin study of child and adolescent development is a Swedish population-based study of 1,480 twin pairs. The present study included 1,226 twin pairs. We used the parental-reported Aggression and Delinquency scales from the CBCL measured at age 8-9. Delinquent behaviour was measured through self-report at age 16-17. We explored how genetic and environmental effects influence the relationships between aspects of ASB in childhood and adolescent delinquency using structural equations modelling. For girls we found that the relationship between Aggressive Behaviour and Self-Reported Delinquency was explained by genetic influences. The correlation between Delinquent Behaviour and Self-Reported Delinquency was due to continuity of genetic influences. For boys, there was no significant mediation between Aggressive Behaviour and Self-Reported Delinquency, but there were significant shared environmental effects on the relationship between Delinquent Behaviour and Self-Reported Delinquency. Our results suggest that there are sex differences in the development of ASB. The hypothesis that the aggressive pathway is genetically mediated was supported in girls, whereas the hypothesis that the nonaggressive pathway is environmentally dependent was supported in boys.