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The writing of this manuscript was partially supported by a National Institute of Health Research Scientist Career Development Award (K02) to Susan D. Calkins (MH 74077). The research reported was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Behavioral Science Track Award for Rapid Transition (MH 55625) and an NIMH FIRST award (MH 55584) to Susan D. Calkins and by an NIMH Grant (MH 58144) awarded to Susan D. Calkins, Susan P. Keane, and Marion O'Brien. We thank the parents and children who have repeatedly given their time and effort to participate in this research and are grateful to the entire RIGHT Track staff for their help collecting, entering, and coding data.
Antisocial behavior is generally defined as behavior that violates the basic rights of others. In adults, antisocial behavior is often associated with criminal behaviors such as stealing or physical assault, but it also includes other more insidious behaviors such as lying, duplicity, and manipulating others for personal gain. These antisocial behaviors comprise the criteria necessary to meet the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). In addition, a hallmark feature of this disorder is marked indifference to the victim (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). In adolescents, antisocial behavior typically manifests itself as delinquency. Chronic antisocial behavior in adolescence and ASPD in adulthood are serious societal problems with financial (e.g., arrest, adjudication, and incarceration) and personal (medical expenses, lost wages, loss of property, loss of life) costs (Foster & Jones, 2006), making an understanding of these conditions, and their development, an important research question.
Recent research has begun to illuminate our understanding of the development of antisocial behavior. We know that ASPD in adults and antisocial behavior in adolescents share a common antecedent of early aggressive and disruptive behavior in childhood (Dishion & Patterson, 2006). In fact, a history of conduct disorder before the age of 15 is a requisite criterion for the diagnosis of ASPD. For some individuals, conduct disorder bespeaks the beginning of a persistent pattern of antisocial behavior. However, for others, these behaviors desist or continue at subclinical levels, as only about 25% of children with conduct disorder are later diagnosed with ASPD (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The heterogeneity of these problems with respect to symptomatology, age of onset, and risk factors...