A prospective investigation of neurodevelopmental risk factors for adult antisocial behavior combining official arrest records and self-reports
Introduction
Early neurodevelopmental deficits have been postulated to play an important role in the initiation and maintenance of persistent antisocial behavior (ASB) into adulthood (Moffitt, 1993). Factors from the prenatal period to early childhood have been investigated, including maternal smoking during pregnancy (D'Onofrio et al., 2010, Paradis et al., 2011, Wakschlag et al., 2002), pregnancy/delivery complications (PDCs) (Arseneault et al., 2002, Hodgins et al., 2001, Murray et al., 2010, Raine et al., 1997), low birth weight (Hack et al., 2004, Murray et al., 2010, Tibbetts and Piquero, 1999, Vaske et al., 2015), aggressive and impulsive behavior (Caspi, 2000, Dubow et al., 2014, Farrington, 1995), and indices of cognitive functioning such as IQ (Dubow et al., 2014, Raine et al., 2005, Sampson and Laub, 1993). Although some factors have shown robust associations with antisocial outcomes (e.g., lower verbal IQ), support for other early neurodevelopmental deficits (e.g., PDCs, low birth weight) has been equivocal. Identifying the neurodevelopmental factors most closely associated with persistent ASB is necessary to enhance our understanding of the etiology of such behavior.
To further our knowledge of the possible neurodevelopmental underpinnings of ASB, it is important to consider how methodological variations across studies may impact observed associations, including differences in outcome assessment. Adult ASB is frequently assessed using either official arrest records or self-reports of engagement in such behavior. Some researchers have suggested that differences in the measurement of ASB across investigations may (partially) explain previous inconsistent findings of the relationship between risk factors, including indices of neurodevelopmental functioning, and antisocial outcomes (Arseneault et al., 2002, Kirk, 2006, Maxfield et al., 2000, Moffitt et al., 1994, Moffitt and Silva, 1988). For instance, it is well-established that official records underestimate criminal activity since only a small fraction of criminal behavior comes to the attention of law enforcement, police use discretion in deciding who to arrest, and not all arrests are officially recorded (Blumstein et al., 1986, Worden and Myers, 1999). Furthermore, not all types of ASB are criminal in nature. It is therefore possible that the relationships between particular neurodevelopmental deficits and adult ASB have been underestimated in studies using official records. Biases in self-reports have also been noted; the potential for significant under-reporting of ASB as well as over-reporting in particular subgroups has been documented (Kirk, 2006, Maxfield et al., 2000). However, researchers have rarely examined how measurement of ASB may impact observed associations between neurodevelopmental deficits and antisocial outcomes.
Other methodological variations have been cited as potential explanations for discrepant results. For example, it has been suggested that differences in how information on neurodevelopmental deficits is collected (e.g., prospective vs. retrospective reports) may influence findings (Arseneault et al., 2002). Aggregating different types of antisocial problems (e.g., violent and nonviolent behaviors) into a single outcome may also possibly attenuate or mask meaningful associations (Barker et al., 2007). In some studies, neurodevelopmental factors have been found to be predictive of only those subtypes of ASB characterized by violence and aggression (Raine et al., 1994).
Finally, many previous investigations examining associations between indices of neurodevelopmental functioning and ASB have focused exclusively on males. Studies that have included both sexes have sometimes found evidence that the association between neurodevelopmental factors and ASB is stronger for males than females (e.g., Murray et al., 2010, Wakschlag et al., 2002). Yet further investigations of large mixed sex samples are needed to determine whether sex modifies the relationship between compromised neurodevelopmental functioning and ASB, or whether neurodevelopmental deficits play a similar role in the initiation and maintenance of behavior problems in both females and males.
Our major objective was to advance the understanding of the true impact of deficits in early neurodevelopmental functioning on adult ASB. To this end, we were particularly interested in whether inferences differed depending on whether adult ASB was defined based on official arrest records or self-reported engagement in serious ASB. We also tested whether associations were stronger for violent versus nonviolent behavior and examined possible sex differences. An additional strength of the current research is that all data on neurodevelopmental characteristics were collected prospectively using valid and reliable methods. Unlike many previous studies following subjects only though childhood or adolescence, we were able to trace the impact of multiple indices of neurodevelopmental functioning on antisocial outcomes into adulthood.
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were offspring of mothers enrolled in the Providence, Rhode Island site of the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP) (Niswander and Gordon, 1972). The CPP was a multicenter study of pre- and perinatal antecedents of childhood mental, neurological, and physical abilities. Over 50,000 pregnancies were enrolled between 1959 and 1966 at several affiliated medical schools throughout the U.S. In Providence, approximately 50% of obstetric patients at participating hospitals were randomly
Results
Table 1 shows the distribution of covariates for the overall sample (n=2776), and among two subgroups: (1) participants with information on adult ASB from official records only (n = 1848); and (2) participants with data from both official arrest records and self-reports of engagement in ASB (n = 928). The overall prevalence of adult ASB was found to vary across the two sources of outcome information. Self-reported ASB was over 1.5 times more common than official records (28.8% vs. 18.2%). Among
Discussion
Our findings support a robust association between demographic and contextual characteristics (male sex, Black race, low SES, parental mental illness) and neurodevelopmental insults (maternal smoking during pregnancy, childhood behavior problems, lower IQ) and later ASB in adulthood. Relationships largely did not depend on whether ASB was assessed using official arrest records or self-reported behavior; only two significant differences were found in adjusted analyses. Males and Black
Conclusions
Understanding the relationship between early neurodevelopmental deficits and the risk of later serious ASB has important implications for theory, research, and practice. Our findings suggest a cluster of demographic/contextual factors and early neurodevelopmental deficits that increase the risk of engaging in antisocial and criminal behavior in adulthood. Developmental theories of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior propose that an interplay between trait vulnerability and environmental
Role of funding source
None of the entities funding this research had any role in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Contributors
Dr. Paradis and Dr. Buka developed the study concept. All authors contributed to the design. Dr. Paradis performed the data analysis, in consultation with Dr. Fitzmaurice, and drafted the manuscript. Dr. Koenen, Dr. Fitzmaurice, and Dr. Buka provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.
Conflict of interest
The authors of this manuscript do not have any conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by an NRSA from the Harvard Training Program in Psychiatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics (grant T32 MH17119); the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute; NIA (grant R01 AG023397-02); a Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center grant (P50 CA084719) from NIH, as well as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; support for the criminal record linkage was provided by NSF under grant YR4-CCRP1 to the National Consortium on Violence Research. Dr. Koenen was
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