Parent-child relationships of boys in different offending trajectories: a developmental perspective

Paternal antisociality and growth in child delinquent behaviors: Moderating effects of child sex and respiratory sinus arrhythmia

Children of fathers with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are at risk for developing delinquency, and both biological and environmental mechanisms contribute. In this study, we test parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) function as a vulnerability/sensitivity attribute in predicting intergenerational associations between fathers' antisociality and children's delinquency scores. We followed 207 children (ages 8-12 years at intake; 139 boys) across three annual assessments. Fathers' antisociality was measured via maternal reports on the Family Interview for Genetic Studies (FIGS). At Year 1, children's resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured. At Years 1, 2, and 3, child delinquent behaviors were assessed using the delinquency subscale of the Youth Self-Report. At age 8, boys' delinquency scores were associated weakly with paternal antisocial behaviors. However, boys' delinquency scores increased steeply thereafter specifically for those who had fathers with higher antisocial symptoms. In addition, associations between delinquency and paternal antisociality were largest for boys with higher resting RSA. For girls, growth in delinquency was unrelated to both father antisociality and resting RSA. These findings (a) suggest moderating effects of children's age, sex, and PNS function on associations between father antisocial behavior and offspring delinquency; and (b) provide insights into differential vulnerability among children of fathers with ASPD.

Child Sexual Abuse and Criminal Offending: Gender-Specific Effects and the Role of Abuse Characteristics and Other Adverse Outcomes

This study sought to enhance knowledge of the link between child sexual abuse (CSA) and long-term criminality by investigating gender-specific effects and the role of index sexual abuse characteristics, revictimization, and serious mental health problems. An Australian sample of 2,759 documented cases of sexual abuse and 2,677 community controls were linked to statewide police records and public mental health service databases, with a follow-up period of 13-44 years. Four key findings emerged from the analysis: (1) CSA victims were more likely than controls to engage in all types of criminal behaviors including violent, sexual, and other offending; (2) gender moderated the relationship between CSA and criminal offending, with stronger associations found among females for general and violent offending, and among males for sexual offending; (3) certain features of the index sexual abuse (i.e., developmental period, number of perpetrators, relation to perpetrator), further victimization experiences, and the development of serious mental health problems were all associated with an increased likelihood of criminal behavior among CSA victims; (4) CSA victims who engaged in criminal offending were more likely to present with cumulative risks than victims not engaging in criminal offending. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Male antisocial behaviour in adolescence and beyond

Male antisocial behavior is concentrated in the adolescent period of the life course, as documented by the curve of crime over age. This article reviews recent evidence regarding the hypothesis that the age-crime curve conceals two groups with different causes. Life-course persistent males show extreme, pervasive, persistent antisocial behavior from early childhood to adulthood. They are hypothesized to be rare, with pathological risk factors and poor life outcomes. In contrast, adolescence-limited males show similar levels of antisocial behavior but primarily during the adolescent stage of development. They are hypothesized to be common and normative, whereas abstainers from offending are rare. This article recaps the taxonomy's 25-year history, concluding that it is standing the test of time in research, and making an impact on policy in early-years prevention and juvenile justice. Research is needed into how the taxonomy relates to neuroscience, health, genetics, and changes in modern crime, including digital crime.

Lability in the parent's hostility and warmth toward their adolescent: Linkages to youth delinquency and substance use

According to family systems and life course theories, periods of intense change, such as early adolescence, can disrupt stable family systems, leading to changes in family relationships. In this longitudinal study, we investigate 2 types of change in parental hostility and warmth toward their children during early adolescence (Grades 6 to 8)-developmental trends (linear declines) and lability (within-person fluctuations around developmental trends)-and their linkages to youth substance use and delinquency in Grade 9 (N = 618). We also test if the linkages between lability and youth risky behavior are moderated by youth gender. After controlling for between-person differences in level and developmental trends, we find greater lability (more fluctuations) in youth-reported parents' warmth and hostility are associated with greater youth delinquency, tobacco use, and polysubstance use initiation. The associations between youth-reported lability in mother and father hostility and polysubstance use demonstrated an inverted U shape pattern: Moderate levels of lability were associated with higher substance use but very low and high lability was associated with relatively lower rates of substance use. Many of the linkages between lability and youth delinquency were significant for girls but not boys. Fewer effects of lability on youth outcomes were found using parent reports. Developmental trends in parents' warmth and hostility were also associated with youth delinquency. Lability has unique implications for youth adjustment, yet appears to differ by youth outcome, gender, and reporter. The discussion focuses on mechanisms that might link changes in parent-youth warmth and hostility to youth risky behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record

Describing and predicting developmental profiles of externalizing problems from childhood to adulthood

This longitudinal study considers externalizing behavior problems from ages 5 to 27 (N = 585). Externalizing problem ratings by mothers, fathers, teachers, peers, and self-report were modeled with growth curves. Risk and protective factors across many different domains and time frames were included as predictors of the trajectories. A major contribution of the study is in demonstrating how heterotypic continuity and changing measures can be handled in modeling changes in externalizing behavior over long developmental periods. On average, externalizing problems decreased from early childhood to preadolescence, increased during adolescence, and decreased from late adolescence to adulthood. There was strong nonlinear continuity in externalizing problems over time. Family process, peer process, stress, and individual characteristics predicted externalizing problems beyond the strong continuity of externalizing problems. The model accounted for 70% of the variability in the development of externalizing problems. The model's predicted values showed moderate sensitivity and specificity in prediction of arrests, illegal drug use, and drunk driving. Overall, the study showed that by using changing, developmentally relevant measures and simultaneously taking into account numerous characteristics of children and their living situations, research can model lengthy spans of development and improve predictions of the development of later, severe externalizing problems.