The etiological connection between internalizing and externalizing disorders is poorly understood. This manuscript aims to investigate the roles of genes and then environment in the development of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and the nature of their comorbidity in young adults. Data from a sample of 2,291 young adult male and female twins from the Young Adult Follow Up Study (YAFU) of the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development (VTSABD) were used to estimate the proportion of variation in these traits that can be accounted for by additive genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental factors. In addition to traditional methods of measurement of psychiatric disorders (symptom sum scores), a more novel approach to measurement through item response theory (IRT) was employed. Through both measurement methods, variation in depression was found to be influenced almost entirely by environmental factors, however IRT analysis revealed genetic influences related to specific symptoms that cannot be gleaned from a traditional univariate analysis. While the symptoms of MDD appear to work well together to define the latent construct, symptoms of ASPD are less cohesive. ASPD item loadings are more disparate and the item response models are somewhat unstable compared with the MDD item analyses. Consistent with the literature, results using traditional sum score data indicated that ASPD was influenced by additive genetic and unique environmental effects. IRT analysis, however, did indicate a role for the shared environment in ASPD variation.ASPD/MDD comorbidity analyses suggest that more than one mechanism may reasonably explain the relationship between the disorders. It appears to be more likely that common genetic factors account for some of the observed comorbidity in females than in males. Conversely, the shared environment is that the most likely link between the two disorders in males. The etiological nature of these disorders is complex and analysis may be further complicated in a population spanning a critical developmental period, such as young adulthood. The item response approach has the potential to provide new insight into how these disorders develop and differ between the sexes and different age groups.

A pesquisa tem como objetivo conhecer a dinâmica do comportamento antissocial na escola e a relação que o aluno estabelece com seus membros, especialmente com o professor. Foi utilizada a metodologia clínico-qualitativa. A pesquisa foi realizada em uma escola pública de Ensino Fundamental de 2º a 5º anos e foram acompanhados três alunos com comportamento antissocial, durante um ano letivo. Consideraram-se comportamentos antissociais aqueles definidos pela escola como o sendo, especialmente por tais alunos agredirem verbal e fisicamente colegas e adultos; excetuando-se os casos de comportamento definidos pela escola como antissociais, mas que tinham como característica o isolamento ou afastamento do aluno em relação às outras crianças ou aos adultos. O presente trabalho traz aspectos da educação e da escola, aborda temas como as políticas públicas educacionais e a intersecção das áreas de Psicologia e Educação. Apresenta algumas abordagens de questões escolares como a função da escola, a relação professor e aluno e o conceito de escola significativa. São apresentados alguns conceitos da teoria de D. W. Winnicott considerados importantes para a discussão da pesquisa: alguns aspectos do desenvolvimento, Winnicott e educação e a tendência antissocial para esse autor. Descreve-se a escola pesquisada, discute-se especialmente um aluno acompanhado e a escola como ambiente de crescimento. Por fim, apresentam-se algumas reflexões a partir da pesquisa; discute-se a relação dos professores com os alunos, a dificuldade de alguns adultos de notarem melhoras nas crianças, os sentimentos negativos do professor em relação ao aluno, a questão da tendência antissocial na escola e a possiblidade de o professor e a escola contribuírem para o desenvolvimento emocional da criança. Espera-se que o estudo possa contribuir para o entendimento do comportamento antissocial do aluno pelos membros da escola e, especialmente, pelo professor, com quem passa a maior parte do tempo do período escolar, e que isso possa possibilitar-lhes lidar melhor com seus alunos que apresentam tal comportamento. O conhecimento da teoria de Winnicott pode auxiliar o professor a promover a saúde e o desenvolvimento emocional do aluno e ajudar a criança que teve falhas ambientais a retomar esse processo, na medida em que compreende melhor o desenvolvimento infantil e suas dificuldades e as condições favoráveis para um amadurecimento saudável / This research aims at understanding the dynamic of antisocial behaviour at school and the relation the student establishes with the members of the school, especially the teacher. The clinical-qualitative methodology was used. This research was performed in a Primary Public School that offers from the second to the fifth grades. Three students who show antisocial behaviour were followed during a whole school year. We considered the antisocial behaviour described by the school as being actions that attack other children and adults verbally or physically, as well as the characteristics of isolation and withdrawal. Having said that, only the students who have actually attacked someone were selected for this research. After presenting aspects of education and the school, this research brings themes such as educational public policies and the intersection of Psychology and Education fields. It presents some approaches of school issues such as the function of school, the relationship between students and teachers and the concept of meaningful school. Some concepts from the theory of D. W. Winnicott are presented, which are considered important for the discussion in this research: some aspects of development, Winnicott and education, and the antisocial tendency according to this author. It describes the studied school, especially discussing one student and the school as a growth environment. At last, it presents some reflections that arose from this research: the relationship between teachers and students. It also discusses some aspects, such as the difficulty of some adults to see improvement in the children, the negative feelings of the teachers towards the student, the issue of antisocial tendency at school and the possibility of the teacher to contribute to the emotional development of the child. We hope that this study can contribute to a better understanding of the student antisocial behaviour from the members of the school and especially the teacher, with whom he/she spend most of his/her school time with. Understanding the dynamics of this behaviour can provide the school and the teacher with the opportunity to deal better with the students who show this behaviour. Knowing the theory of Winnicott can help the teacher so that he/she can promote the students health and emotional development and help the student who has had environmental drawbacks to retake this process, as he/she can better understand childrens development and its difficulties and the favourable conditions for a healthy development

abstract: Criminological theories have long incorporated personality traits as key explanatory factors and have generally relied on assumptions of trait stability. However, growing evidence from a variety of fields including criminology, psychology, and neurobiology is demonstrating that personality traits are malleable over the life-course, and substantial individual variation exists in the developmental patterns of personality traits over time. This research is forcing criminologists to consider how and why “enduring” individual characteristics may change over the life course in ways that are meaningfully related to offending. Two traits that have been consistently linked to offending and conflated in key criminological theories (i.e. Gottfredson and Hirschi’s self-control theory), impulsivity and sensation seeking, have recently been shown to be independent personality traits with different normative maturational timetables and biological underpinnings. This dissertation extends this work by examining developmental patterns of impulsivity and sensation seeking and social sources of variation in these traits with the Family and Community Health Survey, a longitudinal data set that consists of approximately 900 African American youth and their families followed from late childhood to their late-twenties. Multiple longitudinal modeling methods are employed (hierarchical linear modeling and group-based trajectory modeling) to address this research agenda. Results from this dissertation lead to four broad conclusions. First, and in support of existing research, there is substantial variability in developmental trajectories of impulsivity and sensation seeking. Average developmental trajectories of these traits greatly mask the degree of individual variability in developmental patterns that exists. Second, social factors are significantly associated with levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking. Socio-environmental experiences characterized by hostility and unsupportiveness are generally associated with elevated levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking while socio-environmental experiences characterized by warmth and supportiveness are associated with lower levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking. Third, sex differences in developmental patterns of impulsivity are nonexistent while sex differences in developmental patterns of sensation seeking are significant. Finally, with few exceptions, predictors of trait levels operate in a general fashion such the same factors typically explain both male and female trait levels and produce similar effects on impulsivity and sensation seeking. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2019

This exploratory cross-sectional study examined the relationship between implicit family process rules and adolescent prosocial and antisocial communication behaviors. Data came from two-parent families in wave 5 of the Flourishing Families project which consisted of 322 families (fathers, mothers and children ages 13-17). Both observational and questionnaire data were used in data collection. Prosocial and antisocial behaviors were assessed using observational codes from the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales (Melby, et al., 1998). Each of the family members' perceptions were used to assess constraining family rules and facilitative family rules. Findings showed a direct positive relationship between facilitative family process rules and pro-social communication and a negative relationship with antisocial communication. Constraining family process rules were also positively related to antisocial communication behaviors in adolescents. Shame was a significant mediator of the relationship between facilitative family rules and prosocial behavior as well as between constraining family rules and antisocial behavior. Implications for family therapy practice are discussed.

There was a problem regarding students' antisocial behavior in a small rural school district in Washington State. Public data within the district indicated increasing incidents of students' antisocial behaviors. However, perceptions of school leaders regarding this problem were not known. As a result, there was a need to gain an understanding about school leaders' perceptions of students' antisocial behaviors in order to suggest potential solutions to reduce students' antisocial behaviors, as these perceptions are closely associated with their intent to address the problem. Bandura's theory of self-regulation provided the conceptual framework for collecting and analyzing data. Using an instrumental case study, the research questions explored school leaders' experiences in working with students who failed to manage their behavior and who exhibited antisocial behavior. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 13 school leaders in the district, and an iterative, inductive process of data collection, open coding, and thematic analysis was used. The themes that emerged from analysis of the data indicated a gap in the school leaders' practice regarding participation in ongoing, job-embedded professional development and an absence of a systematic school-wide positive behavior support approach to prevention and intervention. The findings indicated the need for professional development training to address these issues related to school leaders' practice. The suggested training could create positive social change by reducing students' antisocial behaviors, thus leading to an improvement in academic achievement. The recommended job-embedded professional development training resulting from exploring school leaders' perceptions can increase the capacity of the school leaders to manage students' antisocial behaviors.

<p>Ett stort antal barn är idag placerade i fosterfamilj. Flertalet av dessa barn uppvisar ett asocialt beteende med dåliga sociala relationer. Multidimension Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) är ett program vars mål är att förändra barnets attityd. Det är en öppen vårdinsats där barnet placeras i en utbildad fosterfamilj. En kvalitativ studie genomfördes baserat på nio intervjuer. Syftet var att utifrån ett utvecklingsekologiskt systemperspektiv undersöka hur MTFC- familjer och biologiska familjer upplever effekten av behandlingen. Resultat visar att biologiska/fosterföräldrar upplevde programmet som ständigt närvarande med tydliga roller. Samtliga familjer bekräftar att programmet har positiva effekter på barnet beteende. Programmet upplevdes erbjuda fosterföräldrar en yrkesmässig relation till barnet och biologiska föräldrar en möjlighet att utveckla ett ökat självförtroende som förälder.</p>

Ett stort antal barn är idag placerade i fosterfamilj. Flertalet av dessa barn uppvisar ett asocialt beteende med dåliga sociala relationer. Multidimension Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) är ett program vars mål är att förändra barnets attityd. Det är en öppen vårdinsats där barnet placeras i en utbildad fosterfamilj. En kvalitativ studie genomfördes baserat på nio intervjuer. Syftet var att utifrån ett utvecklingsekologiskt systemperspektiv undersöka hur MTFC- familjer och biologiska familjer upplever effekten av behandlingen. Resultat visar att biologiska/fosterföräldrar upplevde programmet som ständigt närvarande med tydliga roller. Samtliga familjer bekräftar att programmet har positiva effekter på barnet beteende. Programmet upplevdes erbjuda fosterföräldrar en yrkesmässig relation till barnet och biologiska föräldrar en möjlighet att utveckla ett ökat självförtroende som förälder.

Although common in toddlerhood, for most children, antisocial behavior declines with age. The current study examined whether changes in maternal sensitivity, children's social skills, emotion regulation, and hostile attributions account for these declines. Data from 1022 participants, (52% female; 87% Caucasian) from the NICHD SECCYD were examined from 54 months through 6th grade. Analyses revealed that increases in sensitivity, social skills, and emotion regulation predicted decreases in antisocial behavior. Increases in sensitivity predicted declines because they promoted social skills and emotion regulation. Decreases in antisocial behavior predicted subsequent increases in sensitivity, children's social skills, emotion regulation, and decreases in hostile attributions. Increasing sensitivity, children's social skills, and emotion regulation, appear to be critical factors for naturally-occurring declines in antisocial behavior. / text

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with severe and aggressive youth antisocial behavior (ASB) and are under consideration as a potential specifier for the diagnosis of Conduct Disorder in DSM-5 (Frick & Moffitt, 2010). This proposal demands more inquiry into the impact that CU traits have on behavioral subtypes of youth ASB. Normal-range personality traits, trait levels of anxiety, and hormonal stress reactivity (i.e., changes in the stress hormone, cortisol) are all factors that have been studied extensively in relation to ASB, but these relationships have not yet been considered in combination with CU traits. The purpose of the current set of studies was to examine the extent to which CU traits moderated links between these three factors and both overall and behavioral subtypes of ASB. In the first study, data were collected on children’s personality, CU traits, and three behavioral categories of ASB (physical aggression, relational aggression and non-violent rule-breaking behavior) for community (N = 742) and clinical (N = 183) samples of children. In the community sample, CU traits moderated links between Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience and ASB overall and externalizing behaviors, between Neuroticism, Extraversion and physical aggression and between Agreeableness, Extraversion and rule-breaking behaviors. In the clinical sample, CU traits moderated the link between Agreeableness and externalizing behaviors. In the second study, data were collected on children’s trait anxiety, CU traits, and the same three behavioral categories of ASB in a follow-up adolescent community sample (N = 145). Reactivity of cortisol in response to an unanticipated social stress test was also measured. Results revealed that CU traits moderated links between trait anxiety and ASB overall, externalizing behaviors and physical aggression. In females only, CU traits also moderated links between cortisol reactivity and ASB overall and externalizing behaviors. Combined, the results of these studies support the proposal that CU traits are a clinically useful diagnostic specifier with different implications for behavioral subtypes of ASB. Further, the present findings allow recommendations to be made for future research to further our understanding of the role CU traits play in CD, and to develop targeted interventions.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with severe and aggressive youth antisocial behavior (ASB) and are under consideration as a potential specifier for the diagnosis of Conduct Disorder in DSM-5 (Frick & Moffitt, 2010). This proposal demands more inquiry into the impact that CU traits have on behavioral subtypes of youth ASB. Normal-range personality traits, trait levels of anxiety, and hormonal stress reactivity (i.e., changes in the stress hormone, cortisol) are all factors that have been studied extensively in relation to ASB, but these relationships have not yet been considered in combination with CU traits. The purpose of the current set of studies was to examine the extent to which CU traits moderated links between these three factors and both overall and behavioral subtypes of ASB. In the first study, data were collected on children’s personality, CU traits, and three behavioral categories of ASB (physical aggression, relational aggression and non-violent rule-breaking behavior) for community (N = 742) and clinical (N = 183) samples of children. In the community sample, CU traits moderated links between Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience and ASB overall and externalizing behaviors, between Neuroticism, Extraversion and physical aggression and between Agreeableness, Extraversion and rule-breaking behaviors. In the clinical sample, CU traits moderated the link between Agreeableness and externalizing behaviors. In the second study, data were collected on children’s trait anxiety, CU traits, and the same three behavioral categories of ASB in a follow-up adolescent community sample (N = 145). Reactivity of cortisol in response to an unanticipated social stress test was also measured. Results revealed that CU traits moderated links between trait anxiety and ASB overall, externalizing behaviors and physical aggression. In females only, CU traits also moderated links between cortisol reactivity and ASB overall and externalizing behaviors. Combined, the results of these studies support the proposal that CU traits are a clinically useful diagnostic specifier with different implications for behavioral subtypes of ASB. Further, the present findings allow recommendations to be made for future research to further our understanding of the role CU traits play in CD, and to develop targeted interventions.