Abstract
Purpose: Autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning has been widely studied in relation to antisocial behavior, such as Conduct Disorder (CD). However, research in females is scarce and findings are inconsistent. This study investigated baseline ANS activity in CD children and adolescents and tested for sex differences. Furthermore, subgroups of CD were investigated: +/‐ Limited Prosocial Emotions (LPE), +/‐ comorbid internalizing disorders (INT). Methods: Baseline ANS activity was measured by Heart Rate (HR), Heart Rate Variability (HRV; parasympathetic activity), Pre-Ejection Period (PEP; sympathetic activity), and Respiration Rate (RR). 659 females (296 CD, 363 controls) and 351 males (187 CD, 164 controls), aged 9–18 years participated. Results: Baseline HR, HRV and PEP did not differ between CD subjects and controls in both sexes. RR was higher in CD participants than controls amongst females, but not males. LPE was unrelated to ANS activity, whereas females with CD + INT presented lower HRV. Conclusions: These results suggest that baseline ANS activity is not a robust indicator for CD. However, deviant ANS activity – especially parasympathetic activity - was observed in CD females with internalizing comorbidity. The psychophysiological abnormalities observed in this subgroup are indicative of emotion regulation problems. Accordingly, this subgroup may require specific interventions.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Criminal Justice |
Early online date | 1 Jun 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 1 Jun 2018 |
Funding
The present study is part of the FemNAT-CD consortium (Neurobiology and Treatment of Adolescent Female Conduct Disorder; coordinated by Christine M. Freitag). This collaborative project is funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Health Program with Grant Agreement no. 602407 . We would like to thank all participants and their families for taking part in the study, all institutions that were willing to collaborate with us for this study, and all members of the FemNAT-CD consortium.
Keywords
- Autonomic nervous system
- Conduct disorder
- Emotion regulation
- Psychophysiology
- Sex differences
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Applied Psychology
- Sociology and Political Science
- Law