Unique Dispositional Precursors to Early-Onset Conduct Problems and Criminal Offending in Adulthood

Abstract

Objective: The aims of this study were to examine whether dispositional interpersonal callousness, negative emotionality, and hyperactivity/impulsivity uniquely influence the development of childhood-onset conduct problems and persistent criminal behavior in males, and to determine whether specific facets of negative emotionality (dysregulated anger versus anxiety) in childhood are differentially associated with the development of chronic antisocial behavior.

Method: Childhood dispositional features and conduct problems were assessed semiannually using parent- and teacher-report measures across 9 consecutive assessments in a school-based sample of 503 boys (∼7-11 years of age). Participants' criminal behavior was assessed using official records from adolescence into the early 30s.

Results: Interpersonal callousness, dysregulated anger, and hyperactivity/impulsivity were uniquely associated with the development of childhood-onset conduct problems. None of these features significantly predicted official records of juvenile offending after controlling for co- occurring conduct problems. However, interpersonal callousness was robustly and uniquely associated with a pattern of persistent and violent adult offending that continued into the early 30s. In contrast, anxiety problems were inversely associated with criminal offending in adolescence and adulthood after controlling for conduct problems and the other dispositional factors.

Conclusion: Findings are consistent with theoretical models indicating that interpersonal callousness, dysregulated anger, and hyperactivity/impulsivity influence the development of childhood conduct problems. In contrast, anxiety problems in childhood tend to reduce the likelihood that boys will engage in later criminal offending. Results suggest that delinquency prevention programs should target children exhibiting features of interpersonal callousness, given that they are at high risk for engaging in chronic and violent offending in adulthood.

Keywords: anger; callous/unemotional; crime; hyperactivity/impulsivity; violence.

FIGURE 1

Model Predicted Adult Patterns at Moderate (50^th Percentile) and High (Upper 10^th Percentile) Levels of Childhood Interpersonal Callousness (Top) and Anxiety Problems (Bottom) Note: Marginal predicted values and delta method standard errors were calculated using parameters from the full model, holding all other variables constant at the mean. Arrest in the past year and past two years are from the date of the last criminal record search when participants were in their early 30s (mean age = 31.0, SD = 76).