Prior research has demonstrated both socialization and selection effects for the relationship between antisocial peer affiliation and externalizing problems in adolescence. Less research has evaluated such effects postadolescence. In this study, a cross-lagged panel analysis was used to evaluate the extent of "socialization" (i.e., the…

Adolescence and early adulthood is a time when peer groups become increasingly influential in the lives of young people. Youths exposed to deviant peers risk susceptibility to externalizing behaviors and related psychopathology. In addition to environmental correlates of deviant peer affiliation, a growing body of evidence has suggested that…

There are two common approaches to sub-typing the well-documented heterogeneity within antisocial behavior: age-of-onset (i.e., childhood-onset versus adolescence-onset; see "Moffitt" 1993) and behavioral (i.e., physical aggression versus non-aggressive rule-breaking). These approaches appear to be associated, such that aggression is more…

Prior studies have indicated that the relationship between parent-child conflict and adolescent antisocial behavior is at least partially shared environmental in origin. However, all available research on this topic (to our knowledge) relies exclusively on parent and/or adolescent informant-reports, both of which are subject to various forms of…

Externalizing psychopathology (EXT) is a framework for understanding diagnostic comorbidity and etiology of antisocial and substance-use behaviors. EXT indicates continuity in adulthood but the structure of adolescent EXT is less clear. This report examines whether adolescent EXT is trait-like, as has been found with adults, or categorical. We use…

Background: A recent meta-analysis revealed moderate shared environmental influences (C) on most forms of child and adolescent psychopathology (Burt, 2009), including antisocial behavior. Critically, however, the research analyzed in this meta-analysis relied largely on specific informant-reports (and particularly parent and child reports), each…

It has recently been argued that shared environmental influences are moderate, identifiable, and persistent sources of individual differences in most forms of child and adolescent psychopathology, including antisocial behavior. Unfortunately, prior studies examining the stability of shared environmental influences over time were limited by…

The effect of father's presence in the home on the child's antisocial behavior is studied to determine whether the father's presence may moderate the relationship between father and child antisociality. Results suggest that the presence of the father appears to provide some environmental influence that leads to increased child antisocial behavior.

Antisocial behavior increases in adolescence, particularly among those who perform poorly in school. As adolescents move into adulthood, both educational attainment and the extent to which antisocial behavior continues have implications for adolescents' abilities to take on constructive social roles. The authors used a population-representative…

Background: Behavior genetic methods can help to elucidate gene-environment (G-E) interplay in the development of internalizing (INT) disorders (i.e., major depression and anxiety disorders). To date, however, no study has conducted a comprehensive analysis examining multiple environmental risk factors with the purpose of delineating general…

This study tested differences in personality traits measured by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) in a community sample of adolescents with definite or probable conduct disorder (CD) diagnoses that did not progress to a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) by early adulthood (n=43), those with definite or probable…

This study examined the construct validity of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) diagnosed in adolescence. Boys and girls were grouped by history of DSM-III-R conduct disorder (CD) and ASPD: Controls (n = 340) had neither diagnosis; CD Only (n = 77) had CD by age 17 but no ASPD through age 20; Adolescent ASPD (n = 64) had ASPD by age 17. The…

Background: This study examined conduct disorder (CD) and major depression (MDD) in adolescents in relationship to parent-child conflict and psychopathology in their parents. Method: Participants were drawn from a population-based sample of twins and their families. Affected participants had lifetime diagnoses of CD and/or MDD; controls had no…

Objective: Antisocial behavior that begins in mid- to late adolescence does not fit into commonly accepted taxonomies of antisocial behavior, yet it clearly exists. This study examined how this course of antisocial behavior compares with persisting (beginning by early adolescence and continuing through late adolescence) and desisting (stopping by…