Search results
People also ask
Can antisocial behavior in children coexist with other conditions?
What is antisocial personality disorder?
Can antisocial behavior lead to a personality disorder?
What happens if a child is antisocial?
Dec 15, 2019 · Antisocial Personality Disorder differs from other behavioral/conduct disorders in that it isn’t usually diagnosed in childhood. Oppositional Defiant Disorder, for example, is diagnosed in...
- Overview
- What is childhood antisocial behavior?
- Risk factors
- What causes childhood antisocial behavior?
- What are examples of childhood antisocial behavior?
- Link with other disorders
- Prevention
- Treatment
- When to speak with a doctor
- Outlook
Misbehavior is common among children. However, repeated and persistent defiance, displays of aggression, hostility, and destructive tendencies may be signs of childhood antisocial behavior.
Many people exhibit antisocial behavior at some point in their life. Children show positive and negative social behaviors as they develop and mature.
In some people, antisocial behaviors may persist into adulthood and lead to more serious behavioral problems if not addressed early.
In this article, we explore antisocial behavior in children and discuss its risk factors and causes. We also give examples of childhood antisocial behavior, including some of its early signs.
Antisocial behaviors are any acts that violate social norms and harm the basic rights of others. These include actions intended to:
•harm or injure others
•damage property
•defy generally accepted rules or authority figures
•break laws
A person may direct antisocial behaviors involving hostile or aggressive actions toward family members, teachers, peers, or other adults. Or they may exhibit more subtle nonaggressive behaviors, such as noncompliance, rule-breaking, lying, stealing, or destruction of property.
A combination of individual and environmental factors can increase the risk of antisocial behavior.
•Personality: A 2016 study found that individual factors, including lower levels of empathy and greater impulsivity, are potential predictors of cyber-aggression or antisocial behavior online.
•Parenting styles and practices: A 2019 study found that authoritarian parenting styles (those that are strict, lacking in warmth, and reliant on punishment) are associated with externalizing behaviors in adolescents, whereas an authoritative styles (those featuring emotional support with firm boundaries and limits) have a protective effect on adolescents’ behavior. Parenting dimensions of affection, communication, and autonomy are protective, while overprotection and hostile and intrusive control are associated with high levels of externalizing problems.
•Genetics: A 2018 study found multiple genes associated with a risk of lower cognitive abilities, academic difficulties, truancy, lower self-control, and criminal offending.
•Neighborhood: A 2015 study found that low-income boys surrounded by more affluent neighbors showed higher levels of antisocial behaviors than others who live in concentrated poverty neighborhoods.
•School environment: A 2018 Chinese study found that satisfying a child’s basic psychological needs at school, such as competence and interpersonal relationship needs, affects their prosocial and antisocial behaviors.
The exact cause of antisocial behavior is unknown. However, experts believe individual factors (e.g., temperament and cognitive ability), psychosocial factors (e.g., friendships), and environmental factors (e.g., school and home environment) may shape it.
A twin study suggests that genetics may influence antisocial behavior by about 41%, non-shared environments by 19%, and shared environments by 40%. Shared environments are factors that people living together, such as families, share.
These include parent-rearing styles, family income, and divorce. Non-shared environments are aspects of a person’s environment that they do not share with their household, including different friends or teachers.
Many studies show that parenting plays a role in the development of aggressive and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children. A 2018 study proposed a link between parental harshness and CU traits in children. This, in turn, increases the risk of childhood aggression and conduct disorder.
A child’s social interactions with family, friends, and community may also shape their behavior. A 2019 study notes that antisocial friendships are a risk factor for antisocial behavior in adolescence. It also suggests that an authoritarian parenting style may be a risk factor for impulsivity in adolescents, as authoritarian parents are typically impulsive and may transfer this behavior to their children.
Moreover, a review of research suggests that exposure to violent media through gaming, television, and movies may be causal risk factors for aggressive behavior.
Parents may confuse their child’s rebellious or naughty behavior as being antisocial. However, antisocial behaviors have specific symptoms, which may include:
•repeatedly committing minor crimes, despite warnings
•vandalism
•destruction of property
•stealing and pickpocketing and lying when caught
•harming pets and other animals
Antisocial behavior in children may coexist with related conditions. When childhood antisocial behaviors exceed certain thresholds, a child may be diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or conduct disorder (CD). If left untreated, these behaviors may persist into adulthood and progress to antisocial personality disorder.
Antisocial behavior also co-occurs with other mental disorders, including:
•ADHD
•depression
•generalized anxiety
It is also associated with adverse consequences and poor health outcomes in adulthood, such as:
Early intervention is the best way to prevent antisocial behavior in children. Parents can attend training and counseling to help them learn healthier strategies for disciplining children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics offers positive discipline strategies for parents to help children learn acceptable behaviors as they grow.
One way to prevent children from developing antisocial behavior is by equipping them to deal with their aggression by incorporating strategies into their education.
The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice uses a three-tier prevention program to curb antisocial behavior in schools:
•primary prevention: focuses on school-wide activities
•secondary prevention: provides students at risk of antisocial behavior with specialized activities such as counseling and social skills training
Treatment should focus on the individual child and address their social, emotional, academic, and physical needs.
Proper communication among parents, teachers, counselors, and psychologists within the school setting is necessary for a successful treatment. The following forms of treatment may help:
•family counseling
•adolescent therapy and family therapy
•social skills training
•problem-solving skills training
Parents, teachers, and school personnel who notice patterns of lying, stealing, bullying, or other disruptive behaviors in a child should seek the help of a specialist. Early screening can help halt the development of antisocial behaviors, especially during preschool and middle school.
It may be helpful to talk with a mental health professional and seek a referral for a specialist. Individuals may also seek help from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for nearby treatment facilities and other information.
While it is typical for children to rebel and exhibit antisocial tendencies, this may signal an underlying problem in some children, especially when the problematic behaviors persist.
The longer antisocial behaviors are left untreated, the more difficult they are to address. Early-onset antisocial behaviors that are left untreated have a greater risk of persisting than those that begin in adolescence.
Feb 24, 2023 · Certain factors seem to increase the risk of developing antisocial personality disorder, such as: Diagnosis of childhood conduct disorder. Family history of antisocial personality disorder or other personality disorders or mental health conditions. Experiencing abuse or neglect during childhood. Unstable or violent family life during childhood.
Antisocial behavior can occasionally be identified in kids as young as 3 or 4 years old, and can lead to something more severe if not treated before age 9, or third grade. The symptoms your...
Oct 6, 2023 · Antisocial personality disorder usually begins before age 15. The initial diagnosis is conduct disorder. Children with conduct disorder show a pattern of aggressive or disobedient behavior that can harm others. They may lie, steal, ignore rules or bully other children.
Oct 22, 2021 · Antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents can be characterized by symptoms such as being verbally and physically harmful to other people, violating social expectations, engaging in behaviours such as delinquency, vandalism, theft, and truancy, or having disturbed interpersonal relationships, whereby antisocial behaviour among young people...
Conduct disorders in childhood are also associated with a significantly increased rate of mental health problems in adult life, including antisocial personality disorder - up to 50% of children and young people with a conduct disorder go on to develop antisocial personality disorder.
