Entwicklungsfaktoren dissozialer Störungen – die Bedeutung des autonomen Stresssystems

Abstract

The current selective review emphasizes the heterogeneity of antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents. It focuses on the development of children of the early-starter subtype of conduct disorder who are at high risk for the development of an antisocial personality disorder. Especially the autonomic stress system seems to have an important impact on symptoms and the prognosis of antisocial individuals. While autonomic hypoarousal and a reduced autonomic reagibility seem to be associated with more proactive aggressiveness and a negative outcome, increased autonomic arousal and reagibility might be related to reactive aggressiveness and constitutes possibly a protective trait. Data of the current psychophysiological and neuroendocrinological literature are summarized. Moreover, the impact of comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorders on dissocial development is illustrated. Particularly early diagnostic assessment of the individual's extent of trait anxiety might help to specify therapeutic opportunities and could thereby improve therapeutic efficiency.

Boys do it the right way: Sex-dependent amygdala lateralization during face processing in adolescents

“…While a tendency towards impulsivity and reactive aggression may be related to an amygdala hyper-activation, instrumental aggression could be associated with a hypo-activation of the amygdala. As adolescents displaying conduct problems are at high risk to retain these problems until adulthood, insights in the underlying mechanisms of their behavior are of particular relevance (Vloet et al, 2010).…”