Adolescent Antisocial Behavior Research Articles

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Multisystemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy Targeting Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence

Youth criminal justice systems are under growing pressure to reduce re-offending behaviour and support young people's health and developmental needs. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to synthesise evidence for two prominent community-based interventions for delinquent and antisocial behaviour, multisystemic therapy (MST) and functional family therapy (FFT). We searched Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, and Social Services Abstracts for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies evaluating MST/FFT. Included studies involved participants aged under 18; included interventions targeted delinquent/antisocial behaviour, but not maltreatment. We estimated effect sizes for 6 primary outcomes, synthesising RCTs comparing MST/FFT to usual care using correlated hierarchical effects meta-analysis. We assessed risk of bias and evidence strength using best-practice tools. Given the additional resources needed to implement MST/FFT, we rated evidence strength against a minimum clinically important difference rather than a null effect. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42021279736. We included 35 studies for MST (16 RCTs meta-analysed comprising 4095 participants, 26% female) and 19 studies for FFT (7 RCTs meta-analysed comprising 1471 participants, 22% female). MST had a likely clinically important effect on time in out-of-home care, but no clinically important effects on other primary outcomes (delinquency, new offences/convictions, placement in out-of-home care, substance use), with low-to-moderate evidence strength. FFT demonstrated possible clinically important effects for the number of new offences/convictions, time in out-of-home care, and substance use, but evidence strength was low. Contrary to reports in some evidence clearinghouses indicating that MST/FFT are supported by the highest level of evidence strength, there is limited evidence that these interventions are superior to usual care in reducing delinquent and antisocial behaviour in adolescence. These findings should be viewed in the context of important methodological differences with prior reviews, including the rating of evidence strength against a minimum clinically important difference.

The Association between ADHD Symptoms and Antisocial Behavior: Differential Effects of Maternal and Paternal Parenting Behaviors

The present study examined the moderating role of maternal and paternal behaviors on the association between ADHD symptoms and antisocial behavior. The data are from a Swedish community-based study with 2886 adolescent participants, aged 13–15. We analyzed the adolescents’ self-reports of negative and positive parental behavior, ADHD symptoms, and antisocial behavior. Results show that ADHD symptoms significantly predicted levels of antisocial behavior in both maternal- and paternal-moderated regression models. Also, several significant interaction effects emerged. Fathers’ attempted understanding and mothers’ warmth significantly buffered the association with antisocial behavior. In turn, mothers’ negative behaviors—both coldness and rejection and angry outbursts—significantly enhanced the association with antisocial behavior, whereas only fathers’ angry outbursts emerged as a significant moderator. Thus, there is support for differential effects of maternal and paternal behavior on the association between ADHD symptoms and adolescent antisocial behavior.

Adolescent Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviours: Simultaneous Effects of Self-control, Attitudes of Parents and Teachers

This study investigates the complex relationships between parental attitudes, teacher attitudes, and self-control and their associations with prosocial and antisocial behaviour among adolescents in Bali, Indonesia. The research utilises a correlational research design with structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis to examine the relationships among variables comprehensively. A sample of 260 high school students aged 14 to 16 in Bali, Indonesia, was selected using a multi-stage cluster random sampling technique with 104 male and 156 female. The standard deviation of age is 0.49. Data were collected using adapted instruments to measure prosocial behaviour, antisocial behaviour, parents’ attitudes, teachers’ attitudes, and self-control. The study found positive correlations between parental attitudes, teacher attitudes, self-control, and prosocial behaviour and negative correlations with antisocial behaviour. The SEM analysis produced a predictive model for adolescent prosocial and antisocial behaviour, demonstrating strong compatibility with the model. The results indicated that parents’ attitudes, teachers’ attitudes, and self-control contributed significantly to prosocial behaviour among adolescents. However, while teachers’ attitudes and self-control were significantly related to antisocial behaviour, no significant relationship was found between parents’ attitudes and antisocial behaviour. The findings provide valuable insights into the role of parent-child relationships and highlight the potential for fostering positive behavioural outcomes. The study’s contribution lies in its focus on multiple dimensions of relationships and its exploration of the impact of parental difficulties. Ultimately, this research deepens the understanding of prosocial and antisocial behaviour and its underlying mechanisms, shedding new light on the field of prosocial.

Cumulative Sociodemographic Risk as a Predictor of Adolescent Antisocial Behaviour

Sociodemographic disadvantage has pervasive effects on a broad range of youth outcomes, including greater likelihood of involvement in delinquent and criminal behaviours. Sociodemographic vulnerabilities rarely exist in isolation however, and research suggests that the cumulative impact of these risks exacerbates their effects. Most research examining cumulative disadvantage combines sociodemographic risk factors with more proximal variables related to individual characteristics, family functioning, social interactions and so on, disallowing exploration of the processes through which sociodemographic disadvantage operates. This paper proposes a framework for conceptualising and assessing cumulative sociodemographic risk (CSR) during adolescence using a summed index that consists only of sociodemographic risk factors known to influence antisocial involvement. Results showed that antisocial behaviours increased in line with levels of CSR. CSR was a significant predictor of adolescent antisocial behaviour in a regression model that controlled for the sociodemographic risk factors of which the index is made up, demonstrating the compounded impact of multiple simultaneous sociodemographic adversities. Findings highlight the need to recognise the effects of cumulative sociodemographic disadvantage, further explore the mechanisms through which it operates, and consider strategies for reducing its impact on outcomes such as antisocial behaviour for young people.

Antisocial Behavior in Adolescents: An Investigation into Associations with Bullying Victimization, Moral Disengagement, Sleep Quality, and Family Relationship

Antisocial Behavior in Adolescents: An Investigation into Associations with Bullying Victimization, Moral Disengagement, Sleep Quality, and Family Relationship

Cognitive and affective perspective taking amongst adolescent offenders with variants of callous–unemotional traits

Evidence suggests that associations between antisocial behaviour, callous–unemotional (CU) traits and cognitive empathy (e.g. perspective taking) vary depending on more fine-grained dimensions of these constructs. This study examined associations between adolescent antisocial behaviour and individual differences in cognitive and affective perspective taking ability. Based on current theory regarding distinct variants of CU traits, we further tested whether the correlates of CU traits differed amongst youth with high versus low levels of anxiety. Participants were 130 male adolescents (81 youth offenders; 49 non-offenders) aged 13–20 years, of predominantly Caucasian and Aboriginal Australian ethnicity. Perspective taking skills were indexed using performance-based testing, and self-report data was collected on CU traits and anxiety in a cross-sectional design. Offender status was associated with poorer cognitive and affective perspective taking. In addition, associations between CU traits and perspective taking skills were moderated by anxiety. Specifically, CU traits were associated with poorer skills for second-order cognitive perspective taking amongst high-anxiety youth, whereas CU traits were associated with better cognitive and affective perspective taking skills amongst low-anxiety youth. More fine-grained assessment of such factors stands to enhance understanding of, and effective intervention for, antisocial youth.

Effects of neighborhood disadvantage and peer deviance on adolescent antisocial behavior: Testing potential interactions with age-of-onset

Abstract Research has suggested that childhood-onset conduct problems (CPs) are more strongly related to individual predispositions, whereas adolescent-onset CP is more strongly associated with social factors, such as peer delinquency. Neighborhood disadvantage (ND) increases the risk for associating with deviant peers. Thus, peer delinquency could mediate the relationship between ND and adolescent-onset CP. This mediational hypothesis has not been tested previously. We tested this hypothesis in 1,127 justice-involved adolescent males using self-reported delinquency and official arrest records over 3 years after the youth’s first arrest as outcomes. Predictors were self-reported and census-derived indicators of ND and self-reported peer delinquency. Age of onset moderated the associations between self-reported ND and arrests and between self-report of peer delinquency and arrests. In both cases, the association was stronger for those with adolescent-onset CP. Peer delinquency mediated all relationships between ND and CP. Our results also showed some unexpected differences in associations depending on whether self-reported ND or census-derived indicators were used as predictors. Specifically, census-derived ND was negatively related to self-reported offending, which could be due to the use of an arrested sample and the need for youth in more advantaged neighborhoods to show a more severe pattern of antisocial behavior to be arrested.

Spanish Validation of the Self-Reported Antisocial Behavior Questionnaire and Comparison of Adolescent Antisocial Behaviors Between Pittsburgh and Cordoba

Antisocial behavior is a worldwide problem that negatively affects individuals and societies, and it is influenced by contextual factors. The study of how antisocial behavior changes through time frames and among countries provides information of the extent to which the environment influences this problem, which could help to develop more accurate prevention programs. Cross-national studies require instruments with good psychometric properties, validated in different cultures and languages. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Self-Reported Antisocial Behavior Questionnaire, and to analyze whether there are differences in reported antisocial behavior between pre-adolescents in Pittsburgh, North America (1988) and Cordoba, Spain (2017). The sample included 1,483 Cordoba students of whom 203 were comparable in age to 868 Pittsburgh boys. Results showed that the Spanish version of the Self-Reported Antisocial Behavior Questionnaire had excellent psychometric properties, and that there were some similarities and differences in antisocial behaviors reported by the samples from Pittsburgh and Cordoba. Results are discussed according to time frames and environmental influences of the samples. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Research trends on the relationship between parenting and prosocial behaviors in children and adolescents

The parental role in the prosocial development of children and adolescents is a relevant topic in the social sciences. Although psychology has investigated parental competencies and prosocial behaviors, its research trends have not been analyzed. The aim of this paper is to analyze the scientific production and research trends on the relationship between parenting and prosocial behaviors in children and adolescents. The bibliographic search was carried out in the Web of Science database. The bibliometrix, Sci2 Tool and Gephi tools were used. The results highlight the current importance of contextual and intercultural factors in the study of parenting and prosocial development. The main research trends focused on the analysis of the mediation of emotional and moral factors between parenting practices and prosocial behavior in adolescents; parenting and psychological factors associated with prosocial development in childhood; and parenting practices associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in adolescents. It is concluded that psychological factors such as empathy, positive affect and emotional self-efficacy, as well as family values, influence prosocial development in children and adolescents through positive parenting practices and styles.

Predictors of Adolescents’ Antisocial Behavior in Southeastern Nigeria: Exposure to Armed Conflict and Physical Punishment at Home

Abstract Despite extensive studies on the relationship between armed conflict and behavioral problems among adolescents, the micro-level mechanisms through which the former influences the latter are not well understood. The current study examines the relationship between exposure to the Fulani herdsmen attacks among Igbo adolescents in Southeastern Nigeria and antisocial behavior. Using a mediation analysis, it was examined whether physical punishment mediated the relationship. A sample of 385 secondary school students (227 girls, 157 boys; Mage = 16.3; SD = 1.35) completed a questionnaire during class. It was found that exposure to the Fulani herdsmen attacks predicted antisocial behavior among the adolescents, and the effect was weakly mediated by the experiences of physical punishment at home. The findings suggest that living in an environment of armed conflict may lead to increased levels of antisocial behavior in adolescents.

An Analysis Exploring the Mediating Role of Empathy Between Personality Traits and Antisocial Behavior

Adolescent antisocial behavior, especially juvenile delinquency, has been a hot issue in society. Studies have been conducted to explore how antisocial behavior and personality traits are intercorrelated, as well as how antisocial behavior and empathy are related to one another. However, few studies have focused on investigating the interplay between empathy, antisocial behavior, and personality traits. This paper aims to fill this gap by inferring how personality traits and empathy level affect the conduction of antisocial behaviors for adolescents through a literature review. Agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, which are three vital personality traits in the big five personality trait test, are found to be correlated with antisocial behavior, and agreeableness, extraction, and neuroticism are correlated with empathy. So this review focus on two personality traits: agreeableness and neuroticism. It states that empathy mediates the interaction between the two personality traits and antisocial behaviors during adolescence years. It also gives suggestions that parents and teachers should pay more attention to adolescents with high neuroticism or low agreeableness. It highlights that people can intervene in adolescents’ antisocial behavior through intervene in adolescents’ empathy.

Contributors to Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence from the Perspective of Developmental Psychology: A Case Study on a School Mass Shooting

As the number of school shooting cases has witnessed a rapid growth in the past several years, there is an increasing concern about the massively growing juvenile crime rate. Some researchers have found that juvenile offenders have misfits, problems in dealing with interpersonal relationships, and resentment toward society and others, and an increasing number of adolescents have engaged in juvenile crimes such as mass school shooting, jeopardizing the social stability and leaving severe trauma on those who are involved in such incidents. The current study conducted a case study on a school shooting in a U.S high school with an aim to determine the causes of such incidents that happen repeatedly in society in recent years. It is found that the adverse family environment, represented by High-Intensity Parental Dispute (HIPD), parent’s negligence and insure child-parent attachment, is the main cause that contributes to juvenile offenders’ lack of empathy and concern for others, leading to aggression and antisocial behaviors. Based on the results of the study, suggestions have been proposed to prevent the formation of antisocial behavior from the perspective of developmental psychology and reduce the juvenile delinquency rate from four aspects: parental, clinical, school, and judicial.

Peer influence on prosocial behavior in adolescence

Peer relationships are crucial for the formation and development of prosocial behavior among adolescents. However, most studies have focused on harmful behaviors and risky behaviors of adolescence, and previous verifiable work has often focused on peer relationship influences for antisocial behavior in adolescents. The research on the influence of adolescent peer relationship on prosocial behavior is relatively insufficient, especially the lack of systematic reviewing articles. This article presents peer influence can affect the prosocial behavior by demonstrating social and prosocial behavior in adolescent stage, exploring the importance of peer relationship, decision information of peers and peer intimacy. Moreover, this paper reviews recent experiential studies to explain the mechanism of peer influence on adolescent prosocial behavior from the perspectives of social learning and conformity theory and gender differences. This paper builds a higher study basement for future prosocial behavior field. Limitations of differences between different prosocial behaviors, and the influence level from peers are also worth investigating in the future.

Influence of Popular Culture on Consumer Behaviour of Youth in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka recently, youth antisocial behavior has become a serious national and worldwide concern: Due to adolescent antisocial behavior over the previous 20 years, the rule of law and the law are challenged: Quantitative and qualitative data are collected. Snowball theory was used to collect qualitative data. In addition to this, the behavior of randomly selected individuals is studied through participant observation. Data was collected by conducting consensus interviews with individuals. According to police reports, ganging is a major issue. The previously mentioned organizational structure is well-known in urban areas, although it is less prevalent in rural areas. However, throughout the past two decades, the antisocial behavior of the youth has had a direct or indirect impact on Sri Lanka's popular culture. Additionally, juvenile gangs use a variety of tactics to trick and mislead victims of crime. Their actions are presented to the audience as vibrant and appealing visual images.

A Polygenic Risk Score Enhances Risk Prediction for Adolescents' Antisocial Behavior over the Combined Effect of 22 Extra-familial, Familial, and Individual Risk Factors in the Context of the Family Check-Up.

Possessing informative tools to predict who is most at risk for antisocial behavior in adolescence is important to help identify families most in need of early intervention. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) have been shown to predict antisocial behavior, but it remains unclear whether PRSs provide additional benefit above more conventional tools to early risk detection for antisocial behavior. This study examined the utility of a PRS in predicting adolescents' antisocial behavior after accounting for a broad index of children's contextual and individual risk factors for antisocial behavior. Participants were drawn from a longitudinal family-based prevention study (N = 463; Ncontrol = 224; 48.8% girls; 45.1% White; 30.2% Black; 12.7% Hispanic/Latino, 10.4% biracial; 0.2% Native American). Participants were recruited from US-based Women, Infants, and Children Nutritional Supplement programs. A risk tolerance PRS was created from a genome-wide association study. We created a robust measure capturing additive effects of 22 conventional measures of a risk of antisocial behavior assessed at child age 2 (before intervention). A latent variable capturing antisocial behavior (ages 10.5-16) was created. After accounting for intervention status and the conventional risk index, the risk tolerance PRS predicted independent variance in antisocial behavior. A PRS-by-conventional risk interaction showed that the conventional risk measure only predicted antisocial behavior at high levels of the PRS. Thus, the risk tolerance PRS provides unique predictive information above conventional screening tools and, when combined with them, identified a higher-risk subgroup of children. Integrating PRSs could facilitate risk identification and, ultimately, prevention screening, particularly in settings unable to serve all individuals in need.

The Association between Sleep Deprivation, Aggression, and Antisocial Behavior in Adolescents in Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract The study investigated whether there were associations between how much adolescents slept per night and how much aggressive and antisocial behavior they displayed and were exposed to. Two hundred thirty-eight adolescents (122 females, 116 males; mean age = 15.5 years, SD = 2.0) from Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria, participated in the study, which was conducted with a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. It was found that the total sleeping time of the adolescents correlated negatively with five scales measuring Adult Aggression, Sibling Aggression, Domestic Violence, Parental Negativity, and Antisocial Behavior. Thus, the less the adolescents slept, the more they were exposed to aggression, and they also themselves behaved more aggressively and antisocially. Participants living in overcrowded conditions slept less than others.

Left-Behind Children's Subtypes of Antisocial Behavior: A Qualitative Study in China.

As a result of the recent decades of urbanization and industrialization, millions of people have migrated to cities in search of better work opportunities in China. Meanwhile, their children have often been left behind in the care of other family members. To classify the subtypes of antisocial behavior of the left-behind children, this qualitative study interviewed a total of 71 participants, including five groups: left-behind children, parents, teachers, principals and community workers. The findings showed that left-behind children’s antisocial behavior is manifested as the type of limited adolescent antisocial behavior, and the three subtypes of left-behind children’s antisocial behavior were rule-breaking behavior, delinquent behavior and criminal behavior. In addition, the development of children’s antisocial behavior could range from general violations to delinquent behaviors and even to criminal behaviors.

Separate pathways to violent behavior in schizophrenia and in the general population

Violence in schizophrenia is best investigated within the broader context of violent behavior in the general population. Two important domains of general pathology which allow us to take such an approach include impairment in emotion processing, as manifested by faulty facial emotion recognition, and aggressive reactivity which consists of heightened sensitivity to provocation. To test this approach, we included 135 subjects: 38 violent (VS's) and 33 nonviolent patients with schizophrenia, 32 healthy controls and 32 non-psychotic violent subjects (NPV's). We measured violence with the Life History of Aggression Scale, recognition of facial emotions with the Emotion Recognition Task, and aggressive reactivity through the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Adolescent antisocial behavior was evaluated as a potential precursor to these deficits. We found that impairment in fear recognition (IFR) and aggressive reactivity have a significant effect on violence in the violent groups. These two impairments interact in different ways in these groups. In NPV's they contribute in an additive fashion to violence, whereas in VS's they represent separate pathways; aggressive reactivity leads to violence only when there is no IFR. Adolescent antisocial behavior has a differential effect on these 2 impairments in the 2 groups. Thus, these findings provide insights on the differential role of IFR and aggressive reactivity for violence in schizophrenia compared to the general population. In NPV's, both dysfunctions represent antisocial features and contribute jointly to violence. In schizophrenia, they have different etiologies and constitute alternative pathways to violence. This has important implications for the conceptualization and treatment of violence.

Rethinking the Role of Family in Combating Juvenile Delinquency in Nigeria

Abstract: Many families have failed in performing their major role of protection, provision for their members, socializing their members and ensuring they conform to the socially acceptable patterns of behaviour in society, thereby increasing the rate of adolescent delinquencies in society. The literature emphasizes that the home front is the root cause of juvenile delinquency. In this context, this paper examines the role of the family in adolescent anti-social behaviour and maintains that the family sustains the corrective ability to combat juvenile delinquency. The paper found that divorce, improper use of the internet by juveniles, dysfunctionality in the home, single parenthood, substance abuse, weak parenting, poverty, and constructed realities by the media, amongst others, were examined as the cause of these behaviours. The paper explains the challenges many homes face in raising lawabiding citizens and the aftermath effect of these challenges. However, this could be tackled by developing a child’s security, values and skills. Consequentially, the paper recommends families placing more emphasis on meeting the psychological need of the adolescent, family bonding, and cohesion as well as adequate provision for every child by parents and guardians to curb this menace. Keywords: Keywords: Juvenile Delinquency: Family Roles: Divorce: Broken Homes: Peer Influence.

Antisocial behavior is associated with reduced frontoparietal activity to loss in a population-based sample of adolescents.

Adolescent antisocial behavior (AB) is a public health concern due to the high financial and social costs of AB on victims and perpetrators. Neural systems involved in reward and loss processing are thought to contribute to AB. However, investigations into these processes are limited: few have considered anticipatory and consummatory components of reward, response to loss, nor whether associations with AB may vary by level of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. A population-based community sample of 128 predominantly low-income youth (mean age = 15.9 years; 42% male) completed a monetary incentive delay task during fMRI. A multi-informant, multi-method latent variable approach was used to test associations between AB and neural response to reward and loss anticipation and outcome and whether CU traits moderated these associations. AB was not associated with neural response to reward but was associated with reduced frontoparietal activity during loss outcomes. This association was moderated by CU traits such that individuals with higher levels of AB and CU traits had the largest reductions in frontoparietal activity. Co-occurring AB and CU traits were also associated with increased precuneus response during loss anticipation. Findings indicate that AB is associated with reduced activity in brain regions involved in cognitive control, attention, and behavior modification during negative outcomes. Moreover, these reductions are most pronounced in youth with co-occurring CU traits. These findings have implications for understanding why adolescents involved in AB continue these behaviors despite severe negative consequences (e.g. incarceration).