Childhood maltreatment and prospectively observed quality of early care as predictors of antisocial personality disorder features

Abstract

Few studies have evaluated the separate contributions of maltreatment and ongoing quality of parent-child interaction to the etiology of antisocial personality features using a prospective longitudinal design. 120 low-income young adults (aged 18-23) were assessed for extent of ASPD features on the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnosis-Axis II, for presence of maltreatment on the Conflict Tactics Scale, Traumatic Experiences Scale, and Adult Attachment Interview, and for referral in infancy to parent-infant clinical services. Fifty-six of these families had been studied longitudinally since the first year of life. In infancy, attachment disorganization and disrupted mother-infant interaction were assessed; in middle childhood, disorganized-controlling attachment behaviors were reliably rated. In kindergarten and second grade, behavior problems were assessed by teacher report. In cross-sectional analyses, maltreatment was significantly associated with ASPD features but did not account for the independent effect of early referral to parent-infant services on ASPD features. In longitudinal analyses, maternal withdrawal in infancy predicted the extent of ASPD features twenty years later, independently of childhood abuse. In middle childhood, disorganized attachment behavior and maladaptive behavior at school added to prediction of later ASPD features. Antisocial features in young adulthood have precursors in the minute-to-minute process of parent-child interaction beginning in infancy.

Mother–Infant Joint Attention and Sharing: Relations to Disorganized Attachment and Maternal Disrupted Communication

“…Second, this age-related change toward increased sharing during episodes of joint attention was unaffected either by attachment disorganization or by maternal disrupted communication. This observed robustness of the age-related change toward sharing attention is especially striking given that variations in these risk-related attachment variables are predictive of negative outcomes in childhood and adolescence in the same sample, including externalizing symptoms in kindergarten and second grade (Lyons-Ruth, Alpern, & Repacholi, 1993;Lyons-Ruth, Easterbrooks, & Cibelli, 1997) and dissociative symptoms, borderline symptoms, and antisocial symptoms in young adulthood (Dutra, Bureau, Holmes, Lyubchik, & Lyons-Ruth, 2009;Shi et al, 2012). Thus, at least up to 18 months, infants who have disrupted and disorganized relationships with their mothers remain as responsive to bids for joint attention and as motivated to monitor and communicate with their mothers around the focus of joint attention as infants in less difficult relationships.…”

Wherein Does Society's Sin Against Psychopaths Consist?

“…(2) The social factors that make pregnant women smoke and drink alcohol can disturb the fetal brain development; this can cause conduct disorders in childhood and delinquency in adolescence and adulthood. (3) Insecure parent-child attachment relationships are likely associated with reduced cortisol response after stressors and thus with impaired ability to regulate stress and associated negative effect (Shi et al 2012). …”

The Relationship between Psychopathy Traits, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Forensic Populations: A Systematic PRISMA Review

“…Studies have found that ASPD and psychopathy are associated with adverse early life experiences, such as childhood abuse (e.g., [61]). For instance, an association has previously been found between a diagnosis of ASPD and severe trauma history (most notably an association between ASPD and high rates of physical and sexual abuse) (e.g., [62,63]).…”