Lecture 8 - antisocial behavior

Question 1

antisocial behaviour

Answer 1

• antisocial behaviour is a kind of atypical development. Involves
  > actions damaging to others (violence, theft, damage)
  > actions damaging indiv (poor achievement, criminal record)
• high prevalence in teenagers (Eaton et al 2006) - 14-18y 19% carried weapon, 30% had their property stolen or damaged, 6% missed school
• often one time thing

Question 2

conduct problems

Answer 2

• range of behaviours from mild to serious
• change across development as indiv develops physical strength, cog abilities and sexual maturity
• less severe earlier & more later on as inc opportunities

Question 3

conduct disorder categories in DSM5

Answer 3

• ODD(oppositional defiant disorder) - ongoing anger guided disobedience, hostility & defiant to authority beyond normal.
• CD (conduct disorder) - prolonged antsocial behaviour & violations to laws & norms. seen as precursor to aspd (18)
• ODD often precursor for CD
• ODD onset at 6y average, CD onset 9y.

Question 4

diagnosis of ODD DSM5

Answer 4

• features: excessive persistent anger, frequent tantrums, disregard for authority
• 6m+ symptoms
• e.g. actions to annoy others, argue, often lose temper
• high comorbidity with adhd & learning disorders

Question 5

diagnosis of CD DSM5

Answer 5

• repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour where the basic rights of others or major age appropriate societal norms or rules are violated
• 3 or more of these in past 12m:
  > aggression to people and animals
  > destruction of property
  > deceitfulness or theft
  > violations of rules
• these cause significant social, academic or occupational impairments
  > child vs adolescent onset
  > mild moderate or severe
• presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits or not
• high comorbidity with ADHD (65-90%)
• more serious behaviours than ODD

Question 6

CD associated problems

Answer 6

• poor academic achievement
• lower IQ
• truancy
• suspension
• accidents
• risky sexual behaviours
• unplanned pregnancy
• earlier onset of sexual behaviour
• problems in work adjustment
• legal difficulties
• physical injury
• risk of criminal victimisation
• adulthood health problems, occ difficulties, family problems, offending

Question 7

prevalence of ODD and CD

Answer 7

• Loeber et al (2000)
  > CD: 1.8-16% boys, <1-9% girls
  > ODD: 2-15% boys, 1.5-15% girls
• costello et al (2003) - both ODD and CD rates stable over ages 9-16
• CD rate 3x for boys than girls, ODD 1.5x

Question 8

antisocial behaviour over the lifespan

Answer 8

• ODD and CD defined and diagnosed as disorders of childhood & adolescence (Aspd adult version)
• one source of data is legal data but definitions may differ

Question 9

age crime curve

Answer 9

• peak in prevalence and incidence of offended in teenage and early adulthood followed by gradual decline
• does not tell you if people continue to commit crimes or if one off
• Eisner (2003) - huge historical dec in violent crime contrasts with stable age profile of offenders (peak offenders is 20-19). could be explained by adultification of teenagers now
• possible factors: dev physical strength, independence, out of sync with cog and moral development
• limitations: no info on antisocial behaviour, cross sectional

Question 10

early vs late starter model

Answer 10

• antisocial behaviour steadily inc at ages prior to crime stats
• peak shows a large number of adolescent limited indivs whose antisocial behaviour does not continue
• there is small sub-pop of life course persistent indivs
• evidence:
  > moffitt 1993 - NZ longitudinal assessments. 5% boys had ASB rated above average and very antisocial = life course persistent antisocial behavioir
  > in contrast 2/3 remaining boys above average only at some time points = adolescent limited antisocial behavioir.
• in teenage years antisocial behaviour inc making the two groups hard to distinguish.
• at 15: BOTH groups had broken 5 laws, but most had broken fewer than 1

Question 11

early vs late starters implications

Answer 11

• implications: frameworks for assessment & treatment, predicts prognosis, recognises distinctions
  > early starters: usually male, family dysfunction, deficits in verbal ability, deficits in social cognition, adhd, deviant peer
  > late starters: lower m:f ratio, less aggression, fewer prior difficulties, more normative peer relationships, poor parental supervision, deviant peer group

Question 12

early vs late starter model update - more than two trajectories?

Answer 12

• assessed follow up at 38 & assessed by developmentally appropriate questions at each age
• tested whether pop is made up of 2 or more discrete classes of individuals
• new group: childhood limited - conduct problems in childhood drop away
• Barker & Maughan (2009) - maternal report on if child is high risk based on norms. can get a probability of a high risk child and if they are on track for adolescent onset

Question 13

child biological risk factors (CD, ODD, antisocial behaviour)

Answer 13

• genetics
• intergenerational transmission
• neuroanatomy
• neurotransmitters
• other neurochemicals
• ANS underarousal
• prenatal and perinatal problems (alcohol in preg)
• neurotoxins

Question 14

psychosocial risk factors (CD, ODD, antisocial behaviour)

Answer 14

• psychosocial factors
• parenting
• assortative mating
• child abuse
• peer effects
• neighbourhood & socioeconomic factors
• life stressors & coping skills

Question 15

child functional risk factors

Answer 15

• temperament
• attachment
• neuropsychological functioning
• intelligence
• reading problems
• impulsivity and behavioural inhibition
• social cognition
• sociomoral reasoning
• puberty and adolescent development

Question 16

callous-unemotional traits and antisocial behaviour

Answer 16

• dimension of psychopathy in children
• traits: lack of empathy & guilt, unconcerned about school work, does not keep promises, does not show emotions, does not keep friends
• small prop of antisocial children but at high risk of antisocial behaviour
• a specifier for CD. high CU traits is bad, but can still have CD with no CU traits.

Question 17

temperament model of development of conduct problems

Answer 17

• callous-unemotional pathway (genetic basis & heritability)
  > strong genetic basis
  > low emotional reactivity
  > punishment insensitivity & reward dominance
  > proactive aggression
  > violence
  > resistant to treatments
• hostile-impulsive pathway
  > highly reactive to emotional & threatening stimuli
  > respond more strongly to provocations in social situations
  > hostile attribution bias
  > conduct problems associated more strongly with parenting practices
  > responsive to parental discipline.