Better autonomic conditioning and faster electrodermal half-recovery time at age 15 years as possible protective factors against crime at age 29 years.

Abstract

This prospective study tests the hypothesis that antisocial adolescents who desist from adult crime show better classical conditioning and faster skin conductance half-recovery times at age 15 compared with antisocial adolescents who go on to become adult criminals at age 29. Measures were assessed in 101 unselected 15-year-old male school children. Of these, 17 antisocial adolescents who desisted from adult crime (desistors) were matched with 17 antisocial adolescents who became criminal by age 29 (criminals) and 17 nonantisocial noncriminals (controls). Desistors had significantly better conditioning and faster recovery times than both criminals and controls. These initial findings suggest that better conditioning and enhanced information processing to emotion-relevant events may constitute biological protective factors against crime development.