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Biosocial studies of antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults: a review - 1

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, August, 2002 by Adrian Raine

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Maternal smoking during pregnancy may be an important contributory factor to the brain deficits that have been found in adult offenders. Animal research has clearly demonstrated the neurotoxic effects of two constituents of cigarette smoke--carbon monoxide (CO) and nicotine (see Olds, 1997 for a detailed review). Prenatal nicotine exposure even at relatively low levels disrupts the development of the noradrenergic neurotransmitter system and disrupts cognitive functions (Levin, Wilkerson, Jones, Christopher, & Briggs, 1996). Reduction of noradrenergic functioning caused by smoking would be expected to disrupt sympathetic nervous system activity, consistent with evidence outlined earlier for reduced sympathetic arousal in antisocial individuals (Raine, 1996). Pregnant rats exposed to nicotine have offspring with an enhancement of cardiac M2-muscarinic cholinergic receptors that inhibit autonomic functions (Slotkin, Epps, Stenger, Sawyer, & Seidler, 1999). This would help to explain the well-replicated finding of low resting heart rate in antisocial individuals outlined above (Raine, 1993).

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Birth Complications

Several studies have shown that babies who suffer birth complications are more likely to develop conduct disorder, delinquency, and commit impulsive crime and violence in adulthood when other psychosocial risk factors are present. Specifically, obstetric factors interact with psychosocial risk factors in relation to adult violence. Werner (1987) found that birth complications interacted with a disruptive family environment (maternal separation, illegitimate child, marital discord, parental mental health problems, paternal absence) in predisposing to delinquency. Similarly, Raine, Brennan, and Mednick (1994) prospectively assessed birth complications and maternal rejection at age 1 year in 4,269 live male births in Copenhagen, Denmark. Birth complications significantly interacted with maternal rejection of the child in predicting to violent offending at age 18 years (see Fig. 4, upper half). Only 4% of the sample had both birth complications and maternal rejection, but this small group accounted for 18% of all the violent crimes committed by the entire sample.

In this latter study, the 4,269 babies were followed up to age 34 when outcome for violent crime was reassessed (Raine, Brennan, & Mednick, 1997). It was found that the biosocial interaction previously observed holds for violent but not nonviolent criminal offending. Furthermore, the interaction was found to be specific to more serious forms of violence and not threats of violence. The interaction held for early onset but not late onset violence, and was not accounted for by psychiatric illness in the mothers. Rearing in a public care institution in the first year of life and attempt to abort the fetus were the key aspects of maternal rejection found to interact with birth complications in predisposing to violence.

This finding from Denmark has recently been replicated in four other countries (Sweden, Finland, Canada, U.S.A.) in the context of a variety of psychosocial risk factors. Piquero and Tibbetts (1999) in a prospective longitudinal study of 867 males and females from the Philadelphia Collaborative Perinatal Project found that those with both pre/perinatal disturbances and a disadvantaged familial environment were much more likely to become adult violent offenders (see Fig. 4, lower half). Similarly, pregnancy complications interacted with poor parenting in predicting adult violence in a large Swedish sample of 7,101 men (Hodgins, Kratzer, & McNeil, 2001). In a Canadian sample of 849 boys, Arsenault, Tremblay, Boulerice, and Saucier (in press) found an interaction between increased serious obstetric complications and family adversity in raising the likelihood of violent offending at age 17 years. In a Finnish sample perinatal risk interacted with being an only child in raising the odds of adult violent offending by a factor of 4.4 in a sample of 5,587 males (Kemppainen, Jokelainen, Jaervelin, Isohanni, & Raesaenen, 2001). On the other hand, being an only child is not obviously linked to psychosocial adversity, and the meaning of this interaction requires further elucidation.

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Biosocial studies of antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults: a review - 1

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, August, 2002 by Adrian Raine

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