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Continuity of aggressive antisocial behavior from childhood to adulthood: The question of phenotype definition.

Hofvander, Björn LU ; Ossowski, Daniel ; Lundström, Sebastian LU and Anckarsäter, Henrik LU (2009) In International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 32. p.224-234
Abstract
Aiming to clarify the adult phenotype of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), the empirical literature on its childhood background among the disruptive behaviour disorders, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), or hyperkinetic conduct disorder (HKCD), was reviewed according to the Robins and Guze criteria for nosological validity. At least half of hyperactive children develop ODD and about a third CD (i.e. AD/HD+CD or HKCD) before puberty. About half of children with this combined problem constellation develop antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in adulthood. Family and adoption/twin studies indicate that AD/HD and CD share a high heritability and that,... (More)
Aiming to clarify the adult phenotype of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), the empirical literature on its childhood background among the disruptive behaviour disorders, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), or hyperkinetic conduct disorder (HKCD), was reviewed according to the Robins and Guze criteria for nosological validity. At least half of hyperactive children develop ODD and about a third CD (i.e. AD/HD+CD or HKCD) before puberty. About half of children with this combined problem constellation develop antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in adulthood. Family and adoption/twin studies indicate that AD/HD and CD share a high heritability and that, in addition, there may be specific environmental effects for criminal behaviours. "Zones of rarity" delineating the disorders from each other, or from the normal variation, have not been identified. Neurophysiology, brain imaging, neurochemistry, neurocognition, or molecular genetics have not provided "external validity" for any of the diagnostic categories used today. Deficient mental functions, such as inattention, poor executive functions, poor verbal learning, and impaired social interaction (empathy), seem to form unspecific susceptibility factors. As none of today's proposed syndromes (e.g. AD/HD or psychopathy) seems to describe a natural category, a dimensional behavioural phenotype reflecting aggressive antisocial behaviours assessed by numbers of behaviours, the severity of their consequences and how early is their age at onset, which will be closely related to childhood hyperactivity, would bring conceptual clarity, and may form the basis for further probing into mental, cognitive, biological and treatment-related co-varying features. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
volume
32
pages
224 - 234
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000269323100006
  • pmid:19428109
  • scopus:67650759705
  • pmid:19428109
ISSN
0160-2527
DOI
10.1016/j.ijlp.2009.04.004
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5c8d9a8d-91b4-4f35-bb29-1f2b5dbab1e2 (old id 1412513)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19428109?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 08:39:59
date last changed
2022-03-07 21:56:12
@article{5c8d9a8d-91b4-4f35-bb29-1f2b5dbab1e2,
  abstract     = {{Aiming to clarify the adult phenotype of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), the empirical literature on its childhood background among the disruptive behaviour disorders, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), or hyperkinetic conduct disorder (HKCD), was reviewed according to the Robins and Guze criteria for nosological validity. At least half of hyperactive children develop ODD and about a third CD (i.e. AD/HD+CD or HKCD) before puberty. About half of children with this combined problem constellation develop antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in adulthood. Family and adoption/twin studies indicate that AD/HD and CD share a high heritability and that, in addition, there may be specific environmental effects for criminal behaviours. "Zones of rarity" delineating the disorders from each other, or from the normal variation, have not been identified. Neurophysiology, brain imaging, neurochemistry, neurocognition, or molecular genetics have not provided "external validity" for any of the diagnostic categories used today. Deficient mental functions, such as inattention, poor executive functions, poor verbal learning, and impaired social interaction (empathy), seem to form unspecific susceptibility factors. As none of today's proposed syndromes (e.g. AD/HD or psychopathy) seems to describe a natural category, a dimensional behavioural phenotype reflecting aggressive antisocial behaviours assessed by numbers of behaviours, the severity of their consequences and how early is their age at onset, which will be closely related to childhood hyperactivity, would bring conceptual clarity, and may form the basis for further probing into mental, cognitive, biological and treatment-related co-varying features.}},
  author       = {{Hofvander, Björn and Ossowski, Daniel and Lundström, Sebastian and Anckarsäter, Henrik}},
  issn         = {{0160-2527}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{224--234}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Law and Psychiatry}},
  title        = {{Continuity of aggressive antisocial behavior from childhood to adulthood: The question of phenotype definition.}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5190474/1430656.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ijlp.2009.04.004}},
  volume       = {{32}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}