Citation

DeLisi M, Drury AJ, Elbert MJ. Compr. Psychiatry 2019; 92: 1-6.

Affiliation

U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, United States of America.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.comppsych.2019.04.001

PMID

31079021

Abstract

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is a severe personality disorder with robust associations with crime and violence, but its precise etiology is unknown. Drawing on near-population of federal correctional clients in the Midwestern United States, the current study examined antecedent background factors spanning adverse childhood experiences and childhood psychopathology. Greater adverse childhood experiences were associated with ASPD diagnosis with physical abuse showing associations with ASPD symptoms and sexual abuse with lifetime diagnosis for ASPD. Conduct Disorder was strongly linked to ASPD; however, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and ADHD had null associations. Given the role of environmental factors in the development of ASPD, greater criminological attention should be devoted to understanding how assorted forms of abuse and neglect coupled with childhood psychopathology contribute to ASPD especially given its linkages to severe criminal offending.

Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Antisocial personality disorder; adverse childhood experiences; criminal career; offending; psychopathology