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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Antisocial Behavior in Childhood and Adolescence

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description

Antisocial behavior is a broad construct that encompasses not only delinquency and crime, but also disruptive behavior of children, such as aggression, below the age of criminal responsibility. Legal, clinical, and developmental definitions of antisocial behavior have different foci. Development of antisocial behavior is studied using a longitudinal design. A high association has been obtained between aggression and hyperactivity in childhood and later antisocial behavior particularly in life-course-persistent offenders. The adolescence-limited pattern of offending is less strongly associated with disruptive behavior in childhood. Individual differences in aggression emerge early in life, and they remain rather stable during childhood and adolescence. Gender differences appear in preschool age, boys engaging in more forceful acts. Antisocial and other externalizing behavior is more common, and offending career is longer among males than among females. Studies on continuity in antisocial behavior indicate that a multiproblem pattern is a stronger predictor of delinquency than a single problem behavior. Determinants of antisocial behavior include genetic factors, family socialization, such as parental criminality, family discord, and ineffective parenting, and sociocultural factors, for instance, poverty, availability of guns, the quality of school, and involvement in a drug market which may serve to raise the level of crime in the community.