Longitudinal patterns of physical aggression: Associations with adult social, psychiatric, and personality functioning and testosterone levels

Emotional dysregulation and trauma predicting psychopathy dimensions in female and male juvenile offenders

BACKGROUND

Psychopathy is a specific syndrome that predicts future violent and aggressive behavior in adults. Studies in youth and adults have demonstrated a strong association between early traumatic incidents and later dissocial behavior. Moreover, the impact of personality pathology and emotional dysregulation on aggressive and violent behavior is well established. However, few studies have addressed the relationship between early traumatization and psychopathic traits in adolescents.

METHOD

The present study examined associations between both general dimensions of personality pathology and early traumatic experiences and the dimensions of psychopathy in 170 male and 171 female adolescent detainees.

RESULTS

Analyses revealed associations between physical abuse, emotional dysregulation and psychopathic traits in delinquent boys but not in delinquent girls.

CONCLUSION

Hypothesized relationships between trauma, personality pathology could only be confirmed in the lifestyle and antisocial, but not in the core affective and interpersonal facets of psychopathy.

Testosterone, Physical Aggression, Dominance, and Physical Development in Early Adolescence

The associations among testosterone, physical development, social dominance, and antisocial behaviour during early adolescence were assessed in a sample of boys followed from 6 to 13 years. Saliva testosterone level was positively correlated with height, and uncorrelated with measures of fatness, including the body mass index. Physical aggression and social dominance were not significantly correlated. Regression analyses revealed that testosterone level and body mass additively predicted social dominance, whereas only body mass predicted physical aggression. Thus, early adolescents with high levels of testosterone were more likely to be socially dominant, especially if they had a large body mass. Those who had a large body mass were more likely to be physically aggressive, independently of their testosterone level. The observed pattern of correlations between testosterone, body mass, dominance, and physical aggression offers an interesting example of the complex hormone-physique-behaviour relations at puberty. They support the hypothesis that testosterone level and social dominance are related, and that the association between testosterone level and physical aggression is probably observed in contexts where physical aggression leads to social dominance.

Parenting, relational aggression, and borderline personality features: associations over time in a Russian longitudinal sample

Crick, Murray-Close, and Woods (2005) encouraged the study of relational aggression as a developmental precursor to borderline personality features in children and adolescents. A longitudinal study is needed to more fully explore this association, to contrast potential associations with physical aggression, and to assess generalizability across various cultural contexts. In addition, parenting is of particular interest in the prediction of aggression or borderline personality disorder. Early aggression and parenting experiences may differ in their long-term prediction of aggression or borderline features, which may have important implications for early intervention. The currrent study incorporated a longitudinal sample of preschool children (84 boys, 84 girls) living in intact, two-parent biological households in Voronezh, Russia. Teachers provided ratings of children's relational and physical aggression in preschool. Mothers and fathers also self-reported their engagement in authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and psychological controlling forms of parenting with their preschooler. A decade later, 70.8% of the original child participants consented to a follow-up study in which they completed self-reports of relational and physical aggression and borderline personality features. The multivariate results of this study showed that preschool relational aggression in girls predicted adolescent relational aggression. Preschool aversive parenting (i.e., authoritarian, permissive, and psychologically controlling forms) significantly predicted aggression and borderline features in adolescent females. For adolescent males, preschool authoritative parenting served as a protective factor against aggression and borderline features, whereas authoritarian parenting was a risk factor for later aggression.

Differences in features of non-suicidal self-injury according to borderline personality disorder screening status

Given that non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) disorder is being considered for the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), it is important to consider how NSSI occurs with and without borderline personality disorder (BPD). Participants were 480 undergraduates who completed online questionnaires and were assigned to 4 groups based on NSSI and BPD status. Analyses revealed BPD-positive self-injurers had higher self-punishment, anti-suicide, and anti-dissociation functions of NSSI and higher rates of cutting and burning than BPD-negative self-injurers. Furthermore, difficulty in emotion regulation, not distress tolerance, was most critical in distinguishing between groups. Differences between BPD-positive and BPD-negative self-injurers provide preliminary support for NSSI as a distinct disorder. However, more research in this area is needed.

School outcomes of aggressive-disruptive children: prediction from kindergarten risk factors and impact of the fast track prevention program

A multi-gate screening process identified 891 children with aggressive-disruptive behavior problems at school entry. Fast Track provided a multi-component preventive intervention in the context of a randomized-controlled design. In addition to psychosocial support and skill training for parents and children, the intervention included intensive reading tutoring in first grade, behavioral management consultation with teachers, and the provision of homework support (as needed) through tenth grade. This study examined the impact of the intervention, as well as the impact of the child's initial aggressive-disruptive behaviors and associated school readiness skills (cognitive ability, reading readiness, attention problems) on academic progress and educational placements during elementary school (Grades 1-4) and during the secondary school years (Grades 7-10), as well as high school graduation. Child behavior problems and skills at school entry predicted school difficulties (low grades, grade retention, placement in a self-contained classroom, behavior disorder classification, and failure to graduate). Disappointingly, intervention did not significantly improve these long-term school outcomes.

Direct protective and buffering protective factors in the development of youth violence

This article discusses conceptual issues and reviews knowledge about direct and buffering protective factors in the development of youth violence. Direct protective factors predict a low probability of violence, whereas buffering protective factors predict a low probability of violence in the presence of risk (and often interact with risk factors). Individual, family, school, peer, and neighborhood factors are reviewed. Heterogeneity of variables, measurement, contexts, study design, sample, and other characteristics limit generalizations. However, there were various evidence-based candidates for having a direct protective or buffering protective effect such as above-average intelligence, low impulsivity/easy temperament, enhanced anxiety, prosocial attitudes, high heart rate, close relationship to at least one parent, intensive parental supervision, medium SES of the family, sound academic achievement, strong school bonding, a positive school/class climate, nondeviant peers, and living in a nondeprived and nonviolent neighborhood. The probability of violence decreases as the number of protective factors increases (a dose-response relationship). Implications for future research and practice concern adequate research designs to detect nonlinear relationships; conceptually and methodologically homogeneous studies; differentiated analyses with regard to age, gender, and other characteristics; and greater integration of longitudinal correlational research with (quasi-)experimental intervention studies.

Aggression in borderline personality disorder: evidence for increased risk and clinical predictors

This article aimed to systematically review the current literature regarding elevated risk of aggression in borderline personality disorder (BPD) and to review factors that differentiate aggressive from nonaggressive individuals with BPD. It has done so via a systematic review of the literature using Ovid MEDLINE and PsycINFO from 1980 to June 2010. Results indicate that BPD does not appear to be independently associated with increased risk of violence in the general population. History of childhood maltreatment, history of violence or criminality, and comorbid psychopathy or antisocial personality disorder appear to be predictors of violence in patients with BPD. This review concludes that the current evidence suggests that patients with BPD are not more violent than individuals in the general population. More studies are needed on factors that predict risk of aggression at an individual level.

Entwicklungsmodelle aggressiv-dissozialen Verhaltens und ihr Nutzen für Prävention und Behandlung

Es wird ein Überblick über Entwicklungsmodelle aggressiv-dissozialen Verhaltens gegeben. Die meisten Entwicklungsmodelle (z. B. nach Patterson, Moffitt oder Loeber) unterscheiden zwischen Früh- und Spätstartern, zusätzlich arbeiten andere Modelle weitere begrenzte Entwicklungspfade im Kindes- oder Erwachsenenalter heraus. Eine Reihe von aktuellen Ergebnissen führt jedoch dazu, dass die etablierten Modelle und deren Annahmen kritisch zu betrachten sind. Abschließend wird der Nutzen dieser aktuellen Befunde sowie der Entwicklungsmodelle für die Auswahl und erfolgreiche Umsetzung von Präventionen und Interventionen diskutiert.

Developmental psychopathology and neurobiology of aggression

The aim of this paper is to clarify how neural mechanisms at the molecular level, specifically the serotonergic (5-HT) system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis system (HPA) in conjunction with early life stress may contribute to the emergence of aggression, self-directed and otherwise, in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Chronic dysregulation of these biological systems, which function to regulate stress and emotion, may potentiate the development of impulsive aggression in borderline personality conditions. Our central premise in this paper is that brain development, stress regulation, and early pathonomic experience are interactive and cumulative in their mutual influence on the development of impulsive aggression in BPD. We review the parameters of impulsive aggression in BPD, followed by a discussion of the neurobiological and neuroendocrine correlates of impulsive aggression with and without BPD. We then focus on the developmental continuities in BPD with attention to brain maturation of 5-HT and HPA axis function during the life span and the influence of early adverse experiences on these systems. Finally, we comment on the data of the relative stability of aggression in BPD, adolescence as a developmental stage of potential vulnerability, and the course of aggressive behavior during the life span.

Trajectories of marijuana use from adolescence to young adulthood: predictors and outcomes

Semiparametric group-based mixture modeling was used with data from an adolescent school sample (N = 1205) for three purposes. First, five trajectory groups were identified to characterize different patterns of change in the frequency of marijuana use across four waves of assessment during adolescence. These trajectory groups were labeled Abstainers, Experimental Users, Decreasers, Increasers, and High Chronics. Second, trajectory group comparisons were made across eight adolescent risk factors to determine distinctive predictors of the trajectory groups. Findings indicated, for example, that the High Chronic group, relative to the other trajectory groups, had higher levels of delinquency, lower academic performance, more drug using friends, and more stressful life events. Third, adolescent trajectory group comparisons were made across 10 risk behaviors in young adulthood (average subject age = 23.5 years) and the occurrence of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders. Findings indicated some consistency across adolescence to young adulthood with regard to risk factors, and specificity with regard to the prediction of disorders. Adolescent trajectory group membership was significantly associated in young adulthood with cannabis and alcohol disorders but not with major depressive disorders or anxiety disorders.

Self-reported personality traits and disorders (DSM-IV) and risk of criminal recidivism: a prospective study

Assessment and management of criminal offenders require valid methods to recognize personality psychopathology and other risk and protective factors for recidivism. We prospectively explored the association between dimensional and categorical measures of personality disorder (PD) measured with the DSM-IV and ICD-10 Personality Questionnaire (DIP-Q, Ottosson et al., 1995) and registered reconvictions in adult offenders. One hundred and sixty-eight offenders consecutively referred for pre-sentencing forensic psychiatric evaluation in Sweden during 1995-1996 completed DIP-Q self-reports. The subjects received different types of sanctions and were followed for an average of 36 months after release from prison, discharge from a forensic psychiatric hospital, or onset of nondetaining sentences. Age-adjusted odds ratios revealed a 4.8 times higher risk for any recidivism and a 3.7 times higher risk for violent recidivism among subjects whose self-reports suggested a categorical diagnosis of antisocial PD as compared to offenders without antisocial PD. The remaining nine categorical DSM-IV PD diagnoses were not significantly related to recidivism. In dimensional analyses, each additional antisocial and schizoid PD symptom endorsed by participants at baseline increased the risk for violent reoffending. Our results suggest a relationship between self-reported behavioral instability and interpersonal dysfunction captured primarily by DSM-IV antisocial and schizoid PD constructs, and criminal re-offending also in a multi-problem sample of identified offenders.

Überblicksarbeit

Zusammenfassung. Präventionen für Hoch-Risiko-Gruppen (“targeted interventions“) erweisen sich nur dann als wirksam, wenn mit ihrer Hilfe die anvisierten Risikobedingungen in einer Population angesprochen werden. Ein Erfolg hängt somit von der Genauigkeit und Stärke der Methoden zur Identifikation der Hoch-Risiko-Kinder ab. Der effektive Einsatz von Präventionen setzt unter anderem voraus, dass ein Verständnis dafür besteht, welche Risikobedingungen zu welchem Entwicklungszeitpunkt vorliegen und wie stark die Beziehung zwischen Risikobedingung und einem Outcome (z.B. aggressives Verhalten) ist. Im vorliegenden Review wird zunächst ein Überblick zu den etablierten Entwicklungsmodellen und bekannten Risikobedingungen aggressiv/dissozialen Verhaltens gegeben und diese vor dem Hintergrund aktueller empirischer Befunde diskutiert. Metaanalytische Befunde und unterschiedliche methodische Ansätze verdeutlichen, dass für die Vorhersage eines späteren aggressiv/dissozialen Verhaltens nicht nur Verhaltensmerkmale (z.B. frühes externalisierendes Verhalten), sondern auch psychosoziale Risikobedingungen bedeutsam sind. Abschließend wird der Nutzen dieser Befunde für die Vorhersage eines aggressiv/dissozialen Verhaltens und die Durchführung von Multiple-Gating-Screeningprozeduren zur Identifikation von Hoch-Risiko-Kindern erörtert und das Problem von Fehlklassifizierungen in Vorhersagen vor dem Hintergrund von Befunden aus der Entwicklungspsychopathologie diskutiert.

Psychosocial characteristics at age 10; differentiating between adult alcohol use pathways: a prospective longitudinal study

The objective of the present study was to relate psychosocial characteristics at age 10 to alcohol use pathways in adulthood up to age 36 using data from the male cohort (n = 122) of a longitudinal study. Psychosocial characteristics at age 10 were measured along five dimensions: parental socioeconomic status, intelligence, ability to concentrate, anxiousness, and school achievement. Subjects whose hazardous alcohol habits were limited to adolescence/early adulthood had parents with a significantly lower socioeconomic status compared to persistently hazardous alcohol consumers. In addition, two psychosocial configurations at age 10 were typically linked to future alcohol problems. One pathway included motivational difficulties in school and the second a general adjustment problem. The discussion relates these configurations to existing typologies and theories of development.

Key issues in the development of aggression and violence from childhood to early adulthood

Different manifestations of aggression from childhood to early adulthood are reviewed to establish how early manifestations are related to later manifestations. Similarities and differences in manifestations of aggression between the two genders are noted. Developmental sequences and pathways from minor aggression to violence are highlighted. Long-term escalation is contrasted with short-term escalation at older ages. Although studies have emphasized high stability of aggression over time, data show that a substantial proportion of aggressive youth desist over time. Temperamental, emotional, and cognitive aspects of aggression are reviewed, either as precursors or co-occurring conditions to aggression. Selected processes in the realms of the family, peers, and neighborhoods are highlighted that are known to be associated with juvenile aggression. Cumulative, long-term causes are contrasted with short-term causes, and causes associated with desistance in aggression are reviewed.