Antisocial Disorder Research Articles

Le devenir du trouble déficit de l’attention/hyperactivité chez l’adulte

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood. Although some symptoms of ADHD may diminish this does not mean that functioning is unimpaired in adults. Follow-up studies of children with ADHD show that it persists into adulthood in the majority of cases. Due to genetic factors high rates of ADHD exist among the parents of children with ADHD. More females are identified and become diagnosed in adulthood. There is a greater persistence of inattentive than of hyperactive/impulsive childhood symptoms of ADHD in adulthood. Some experts conceptualise ADHD as primarily a deficit of executive functions impairing planification, time perception and emotional regulation. ADHD often presents as a lifelong condition in adults associated with a range of clinical and psychosocial impairments. Young adults with comorbid antisocial or substance use disorder in adolescence are at significantly increased risk for criminal behaviors. Some predictors of the outcome have been identified such as childhood symptom profile and severity, comorbidity and childhood family adversities.

Programa EDUCA. Escuela de padres para el tratamiento de los trastornos del comportamiento perturbador

The perturbing disorders in adolescence and during youth, as well as the aggressive and criminal behavior have increased notably in recent years, generating a great social worry for how to revert this tendency. Conduct problems are one of the most frequent disorders in the child and adolescent mental health units, as much in Spain, that supposes more than one half of the medical appointment, like out of our frontiers. Parenttraining program has been considered by some researchers the first treatment option for child disturbed behavior and it would perform on like primary prevention of other more seriously behavioral disease. The main objective of this experimental study was to design and to prove the effectiveness of a protocolized parent training program in group for the treatment of the disruptive disorders (oppositional defiant disorder and antisocial disorder) in the childhood and the adolescence, as well as for to improve the family satisfaction and the familiar context. The initial sample of our study was composed for31 families (31 mothers and 25 fathers) who were derived to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit of Algeciras for disruptive disorders in theirs children. The results obtained shown that the parent training program (EDUCA) was effective to produce a clinical and significant statistically reduction in the variables: Aggressiveness (p<0,05), hyperactivity (p< 0,02), Cohesion (p<0,01), Moral Religiousness (p<0,03), Organization(p<0,03) and family Satisfaction (p<0,01). CITE AS:Díaz Sibaja, M.A., Comeche Moreno, M.I. & Díaz García, M.I. (2011). Programa EDUCA. Escuela de padres para el tratamiento de los trastornos del comportamiento perturbador. Apuntes de Psicología, 29, 243-258.

Guilt-Specific Processing in the Prefrontal Cortex

Guilt is a central moral emotion due to its inherent link to norm violations, thereby affecting both individuals and society. Furthermore, the nature and specificity of guilt is still debated in psychology and philosophy, particularly with regard to the differential involvement of self-referential representations in guilt relative to shame. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in healthy volunteers, we identified specific brain regions associated with guilt by comparison with the 2 most closely related emotions, shame and sadness. To induce high emotional intensity, we used an autobiographical memory paradigm where participants relived during fMRI scanning situations from their own past that were associated with strong feelings of guilt, shame, or sadness. Compared with the control emotions, guilt episodes specifically recruited a region of right orbitofrontal cortex, which was also highly correlated with individual propensity to experience guilt (Trait Guilt). Guilt-specific activity was also observed in the paracingulate dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a critical "Theory of Mind" region, which overlapped with brain areas of self-referential processing identified in an independent task. These results provide new insights on the unique nature of guilt as a "self-conscious" moral emotion and the neural bases of antisocial disorders characterized by impaired guilt processing.

A Comparison of Impulsivity and Aggression between Borderline Personality Disorder and Antisocial Disorder

본 연구에서는 경계선과 반사회성 성격병리에서의 충동성과 공격성을 비교해보고자 하였다. 연구 참여자는 대학생과 일반 성인 총 305명이었다. BIS-11 충동성 척도, EIS 충동성 척도, Buss와 Durkee Hostility 척도, PAI 경계선 성격 특성 척도와 반사회성 성격 특성 척도, 성격장애 진단검사의 경계선과 반사회성 척도를 실시하였다. 충동성과 공격성에 포함되는 어떠한 하위요인이 경계선과 반사회성 성격병리를 설명해 줄 수 있는지 중다회귀분석을 실시한 결과, 흥분성, 전반적 정서조절결함, 운동활동 충동성, 공격적 태도, 인지 충동성, 신체적 공격, 원한, 부정성이 경계선 성격병리를 유의미하게 설명하였다. 또한, 신체적 공격, 행동통제결함, 운동활동 충동성, 언어 공격성, 무계획 충동성, 정서조절결함이 반사회성 성격병리를 유의미하게 설명하였다. 이러한 결과는 경계선과 반사회성 성격병리에서 공통적으로 충동성, 공격성이 높게 나타나지만 그 구체적인 내용에서는 차이가 있음을 시사한다.

Risky Decisions and Their Consequences: Neural Processing by Boys with Antisocial Substance Disorder

BackgroundAdolescents with conduct and substance problems (“Antisocial Substance Disorder” (ASD)) repeatedly engage in risky antisocial and drug-using behaviors. We hypothesized that, during processing of risky decisions and resulting rewards and punishments, brain activation would differ between abstinent ASD boys and comparison boys.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe compared 20 abstinent adolescent male patients in treatment for ASD with 20 community controls, examining rapid event-related blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses during functional magnetic resonance imaging. In 90 decision trials participants chose to make either a cautious response that earned one cent, or a risky response that would either gain 5 cents or lose 10 cents; odds of losing increased as the game progressed. We also examined those times when subjects experienced wins, or separately losses, from their risky choices. We contrasted decision trials against very similar comparison trials requiring no decisions, using whole-brain BOLD-response analyses of group differences, corrected for multiple comparisons. During decision-making ASD boys showed hypoactivation in numerous brain regions robustly activated by controls, including orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, anterior cingulate, basal ganglia, insula, amygdala, hippocampus, and cerebellum. While experiencing wins, ASD boys had significantly less activity than controls in anterior cingulate, temporal regions, and cerebellum, with more activity nowhere. During losses ASD boys had significantly more activity than controls in orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, brain stem, and cerebellum, with less activity nowhere.Conclusions/SignificanceAdolescent boys with ASD had extensive neural hypoactivity during risky decision-making, coupled with decreased activity during reward and increased activity during loss. These neural patterns may underlie the dangerous, excessive, sustained risk-taking of such boys. The findings suggest that the dysphoria, reward insensitivity, and suppressed neural activity observed among older addicted persons also characterize youths early in the development of substance use disorders.

The association between childhood maltreatment and gambling problems in a community sample of adult men and women.

The association between childhood maltreatment and gambling problems was examined in a community sample of men and women (N = 1,372). As hypothesized, individuals with gambling problems reported greater childhood maltreatment than individuals without gambling problems. Childhood maltreatment predicted severity of gambling problems and frequency of gambling even when other individual and social factors were controlled including symptoms of alcohol and other drug use disorders, family environment, psychological distress, and symptoms of antisocial disorder. In contrast to findings in treatment-seeking samples, women with gambling problems did not report greater maltreatment than men with gambling problems. These results underscore the need for both increased prevention of childhood maltreatment and increased sensitivity towards trauma issues in gambling treatment programs for men and women.

Locating eating pathology within an empirical diagnostic taxonomy: evidence from a community-based sample.

Existing structural models of psychopathology need to be expanded to include additional diagnostic constructs beyond mood, anxiety, substance use, and antisocial behavior disorders. The goal of this study was to locate eating disorders within a hierarchical structural model of psychopathology that is anchored by broad Internalizing and Externalizing factors. Participants were female adolescent twins (N = 1,434) from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. The authors compared the fit of 4 models in which eating disorders (a) defined their own diagnostic class, (b) represented a subclass within Internalizing, (c) formed a subclass within Externalizing, and (d) were allowed to cross-load on both Internalizing and Externalizing. In the best fitting model, eating disorders formed a subfactor within Internalizing. These findings underscore the value of developing more comprehensive empirically based models of psychopathology to increase researchers' understanding of diverse mental disorders.

Behavioral genetics in antisocial spectrum disorders and psychopathy: A review of the recent literature

Behavioral geneticists are increasingly using the tools of molecular genetics to extend upon discoveries from twin, family, and adoption studies concerning the heritability of antisocial spectrum disorders and psychopathy. While there is a substantial body of research concerning antisocial spectrum disorders in the behavioral genetics literature, only a few studies could be located using the phenotype of psychopathy. In this report we summarize some of the recent molecular genetics work concerning antisocial spectrum disorders and psychopathy, with a focus on genes involved in the serotonergic and dopaminergic pathways, while also mentioning some of the novel genetic factors being considered. Monoamine oxidase (MAOA) and the serotonin transporter (5HTT) are reviewed at length, as these genes have received significant scientific attention in recent years and are sites of high biological plausibility in antisocial spectrum disorders and psychopathy.

Adult Psychiatric Outcomes of Girls With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: 11-Year Follow-Up in a Longitudinal Case-Control Study

Few follow-up studies have been conducted of girls with ADHD, and none have followed girls into adulthood. The authors sought to estimate the prevalence of psychopathology in girls with and without ADHD followed into young adulthood. The authors conducted a longitudinal case-control study of 6- to 18-year-old girls with (N=140) and without (N=122) ADHD ascertained from psychiatric and pediatric sources. At the 11-year follow-up, 96 (69%) of the girls with ADHD and 91 (75%) of the comparison girls were reassessed (mean age=22 years). Participants were blindly assessed by structured diagnostic interviews. Lifetime and 1-year risks for all composite categories of psychopathology were significantly greater in girls with ADHD grown up relative to comparison girls; lifetime hazard ratios were 7.2 (95% CI=4.0-12.7) for antisocial disorders, 6.8 (95% CI=3.7-12.6) for mood disorders, 2.1 (95% CI=1.6-2.9) for anxiety disorders, 3.2 (95% CI=2.0-5.3) for developmental disorders, 2.7 (95% CI=1.6-4.3) for addictive disorders, and 3.5 (95% CI=1.6-7.3) for eating disorders. For lifetime psychopathology, all six composite categories remained statistically significant after controlling for other baseline psychopathology. Except for addictive disorders, significant 1-year findings remained significant after controlling for baseline psychopathology. The 1-year prevalences of composite disorders were not associated with lifetime or 1-year use of ADHD medication. By young adulthood, girls with ADHD were at high risk for antisocial, addictive, mood, anxiety, and eating disorders. These prospective findings, previously documented in boys with ADHD, provide further evidence for the high morbidity associated with ADHD across the life cycle.

Relationship between Tabriz elementary students’ mothers’ personality disorders and antisocial behavioral disorder of children in 2008-2009

Primary goal of this research is to establish the relationship between personality disorder in mothers and antisocial behavior disorder of their children. To achieve this goal the Millon Personality Disorders Inventory- III and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were used. The result from the analysis of total behavior disorders was only mother's paranoid, antisocial, schizotypal, borderline dependent personality disorders which were effective on child's antisocial behavior disorder.

A controlled family study of children with DSM-IV bipolar-I disorder and psychiatric co-morbidity

To estimate the spectrum of familial risk for psychopathology in first-degree relatives of children with unabridged DSM-IV bipolar-I disorder (BP-I). We conducted a blinded, controlled family study using structured diagnostic interviews of 157 children with BP-I probands (n=487 first-degree relatives), 162 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (without BP-I) probands (n=511 first-degree relatives), and 136 healthy control (without ADHD or BP-I) probands (n=411 first-degree relatives). The morbid risk (MR) of BP-I disorder in relatives of BP-I probands (MR=0.18) was increased 4-fold [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.3-6.9, p<0.001] over the risk to relatives of control probands (MR=0.05) and 3.5-fold (95% CI 2.1-5.8, p<0.001) over the risk to relatives of ADHD probands (MR=0.06). In addition, relatives of children with BP-I disorder had high rates of psychosis, major depression, multiple anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, ADHD and antisocial disorders compared with relatives of control probands. Only the effect for antisocial disorders lost significance after accounted for by the corresponding diagnosis in the proband. Familial rates of ADHD did not differ between ADHD and BP-I probands. Our results document an increased familial risk for BP-I disorder in relatives of pediatric probands with DSM-IV BP-I. Relatives of probands with BP-I were also at increased risk for other psychiatric disorders frequently associated with pediatric BP-I. These results support the validity of the diagnosis of BP-I in children as defined by DSM-IV. More work is needed to better understand the nature of the association between these disorders in probands and relatives.

The Neural Bases of Normal and Deviant Moral Cognition and Behavior

The Neural Bases of Normal and Deviant Moral Cognition and Behavior

The ANKK1 Kinase Gene and Psychiatric Disorders

The TaqIA single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, rs1800497), which is located in the gene that codes for the putative kinase ANKK1 (ANKK1) near the termination codon of the D2 dopamine receptor gene (DRD2; chromosome 11q22-q23), is the most studied genetic variation in a broad range of psychiatric disorders and personality traits. A large number of individual genetic association studies have found that the TaqIA SNP is linked to alcoholism and antisocial traits. In addition, it has also been related to other conditions such as schizophrenia, eating disorders, and some behavioral childhood disorders. The TaqIA A1 allele is mainly associated with addictions, antisocial disorders, eating disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, while the A2 allele occurs more frequently in schizophrenic and obsessive-compulsive patients. Current data show that the TaqIA polymorphism may be a marker of both DRD2 and ANKK1 genetic variants. ANKK1 would belong to a family of kinases involved in signal transduction. This raises the question of whether signaling players intervene in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. Basic research on the ANKK1 protein and its putative interaction with the D2 dopamine receptor could shed light on this issue.

Disadvantage, disorder and diversity

Disadvantage, disorder and diversity

Community intervention and public policy in the prevention of antisocial behavior

As academic clinical science moves to community intervention to achieve impact on population prevalence of antisocial behavior disorders, exciting potential is tempered by realistic caution. Three kinds of efforts are noted. First, individual evidence-based therapies are being implemented at scale. Difficulties in high-fidelity implementation are noted, and the unlikelihood of population impact is highlighted. Second, communities are receiving new resources to support individuals, although connecting community resources to highest-risk individuals is difficult. Third, community factors are being targeted for change through policy reform, with mixed results. As the field moves in this direction, the importance of adhering to principles of scientific rigor and empirical evidence is emphasized, to keep scientist-practitioners from overstepping their bounds.

Strengthening the Case: Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Is Associated With Increased Risk for Conduct Disorder

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between alcohol exposure in pregnancy and offspring conduct disorder symptoms in adolescence and to examine how much this increasingly known association may be mediated by maternal and paternal externalizing diagnoses, including lifetime maternal and paternal alcohol and drug abuse/dependence diagnoses as well as antisocial disorders. Few other studies have examined the contribution of these diagnoses across both parents. A population sample of 1252 adolescents (53.8% female; drawn from the Minnesota Twin Family Study) as well as both of their parents completed structured diagnostic interviews to generate lifetime psychiatric diagnoses; mothers were also retrospectively interviewed about alcohol and nicotine use during pregnancy. Linear regression models were used to test the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on adolescents' conduct-disorder symptoms. Prenatal exposure to alcohol was associated with higher levels of conduct-disorder symptoms in offspring, even after statistically controlling for the effects of parental externalizing disorders (illicit substance use disorders, alcohol dependence, and antisocial/behavioral disorders), prenatal nicotine exposure, monozygosity, gestational age, and birth weight. Prenatal alcohol exposure contributes to increased risk for conduct disorder in offspring.

Características de salud mental de los hombres que maltratan a su pareja

The prevalence of psychopathological disorders amongst men who abuse their intimate partners has yet to be established. This article reviews studies carried out to ascertain the mental health characteristics of male domestic abusers. Most of these studies are based on samples of abusers under treatment or in prison. They generally assess the presence of psychopathological disorders through self-reports and diagnostic interviews are infrequently used. The results of this research show that domestic abusers tend to obtain high points for some types of personality disorders, especially narcissistic, antisocial and borderline disorders. They also present symptoms of depressive disorders and consumption of drugs and alcohol. Some studies also show that neurological problems are relatively frequent. Finally I discuss the limitations of current research and the implications for treatment of domestic abusers.

Lifetime criminality among boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A prospective follow-up study into adulthood using official arrest records

This study investigates the relationship between childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and later criminality. White boys ( n = 207, ages 6–12) with ADHD, free of conduct disorder, were assessed at ages 18 and 25 by clinicians who were blind to childhood status. A non-ADHD group served as comparisons. Lifetime arrest records were obtained when subjects were 38 years old for subjects who resided in New York State throughout the follow-up interval (93 probands, 93 comparisons). Significantly more ADHD probands than comparisons had been arrested (47% vs. 24%), convicted (42% vs. 14%), and incarcerated (15% vs. 1%). Rates of felonies and aggressive offenses also were significantly higher among probands. Importantly, the development of an antisocial or substance use disorder in adolescence completely explained the increased risk for subsequent criminality. Results suggest that even in the absence of comorbid conduct disorder in childhood, ADHD increases the risk for developing antisocial and substance use disorders in adolescence, which, in turn, increases the risk for criminal behavior in adolescence and adulthood.

An orbitofrontostriatopallidal pathway for morality: Evidence from postlesion antisocial and obsessive-compulsive disorder

Introduction. A detailed proposal is made to the effect that nonlesional antisocial personality disorder (APD) is, among other things, a dysfunctional hypomoralism and that nonlesional obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is, among other things, a dysfunctional hypermoralism. Method. To provide an empirical test of this proposal, 25 previously published cases of acquired (post lesion) APD and 39 cases of acquired OCD are reviewed and compared with multivariate inference tests. Results. The acquired APD patients most often present putamenal or pallidal lesions. Conclusion. The ensemble of neurobiological, endocrine, and behavioural traits in APD and OCD, as well as the distinct lesion sites in the acquired variants, support the notion of an orbitofrontostriatopallidal brain system underlying morality.

A magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of antisocial behaviour disorder, psychopathy and violent crime among military conscripts.

Prefrontal and/or temporo-limbic abnormalities associated with antisocial personality disorder (APD), high psychopathy scores and violent behaviours can readily be evaluated by neuroimaging methods. In this study, we compared the brain metabolites in adult male military conscripts with APD, high psychopathy scores and serious violent crimes (n = 15) with age- and educational-level-matched healthy controls (n = 15) by means of magnetic resonance spectroscopy. All cases were diagnosed by means of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual-IV APD module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM III-R Axis II Disorders (SCID-II) semistructured questionnaire in Turkish. The psychopathy scores were evaluated by means of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised translated into Turkish (PCL-R). PCL-R is a 20-item, reliable and valid instrument for assessment of psychopathy, both in categorical and dimensional natures. All patients had a total score of 29 (of possible 40) or higher from PCL-R, indicating a high degree of psychopathy. Our results showed no significant differences in ratio of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr) and choline-related compounds in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and amygdala-hippocampus regions of cases compared with controls. ACC NAA/Cr was significantly negatively correlated with both the PCL-R total score and the PCL-R factor I score (interpersonal/affective problems) among the cases. As ACC plays an important role in decision-making and emotional information processing, we postulate that the lower NAA/Cr ratio, suggesting impaired neural integrity, may increase the severity of interpersonal/affective problems of the psychopathy factor in male subjects exhibiting APD, high psychopathy overall scores and violent crimes.