Personality risk for antisocial behavior

16 Pages·2017·0.59 MB·English

DevelopmentandPsychopathology,2017,page1of16
#CambridgeUniversityPress2017
doi:10.1017/S095457941700061X
Personality risk for antisocial behavior: Testing the intersections
between callous–unemotional traits, sensation seeking, and
impulse control in adolescence
FRANKD.MANN,aSARAL.PAUL,aJENNIFERL.TACKETT,bELLIOTM.TUCKER-DROB,aAND
K.PAIGEHARDENa
aUniversityofTexasatAustin;andbNorthwesternUniversity
Abstract
Thecurrentprojectseekstointegrateliteraturesonpersonalityriskforantisocialbehavior(ASB)byexamininghowcallous–unemotionaltraitsrelateto(a)the
developmentofdisinhibitedtraitsand(b)theassociationbetweendisinhibitedtraitsandASB.InStudy1,usinganationallyrepresentativesampleof
youth(N.7,000),weexaminedwhetherconductproblemsandlackofguiltassessedduringages4–10yearspredictedlevelsofandchangesindisinhibited
traitsoverthecourseofadolescence,andmoderatedassociationsbetweenthesetraitsandASB.Highlevelsofchildhoodconductproblemswere
associatedwithhigherlevelsofimpulsivity,sensationseeking,andASBinearlyadolescence,whereaslackofguiltwasassociatedwithlowerlevelsof
sensationseeking.Neitherconductproblemsnorlackofguiltsignificantlypredictedchangesinimpulsivityorsensationseeking,andassociationsamong
changesinsensationseeking,impulsivity,andASBwerealsoconsistentacrosslevelsofconductproblemsandlackofguilt.InStudy2,usingacross-sectional
sampleofadolescents(N¼970),wetestedwhethercallous–unemotionaltraitsmoderatedassociationsbetweendisinhibitedtraitsandASB.Consistent
withtheresultsofStudy1,associationsbetweendisinhibitedpersonalityandASBwereconsistentacrossacontinuousrangeofcallous–unemotionaltraits.
Antisocial behavior (ASB), which is deviant behavior that Frick&White,2008;Moffitt,1993).Thegoalofthecurrent
violatessocialnormsand/ortherightsofothers,ismorecom- paperistocontributetoanintegrationoftheseliteratures,by
monduringadolescencethananyotherpointinthelifespan. testingtherelationsamongdisinhibitedtraits,callous–unemo-
GalvanizedbythehighcostsofASB,bothtoindividualwell- tionaltraits,andASBintwoindependentsamples.
being and to society as a whole, considerable research has
been devoted to understanding the personal risk factors that
underlie adolescent ASB. One constellation of risk factors SensationSeekingandImpulsivityPredict
that predicts adolescent engagement in ASB is disinhibited AdolescentASB
personalitytraits,includingimpulsivityandsensationseeking
On average, adolescents experience marked age-related per-
(e.g., Byck, Swann, Schalet, Bolland, & Mustanski, 2015;
sonalitychange, particularly in the personality facets of im-
Cooper,Wood,Orcutt,&Albino,2003;Waltonetal.,2016;
pulsivityandsensationseeking.Forthepurposesofthecur-
Zuckerman,2007).Cross-sectionalandlongitudinalresearch
rentpaper,wedefineimpulsivityasafailuretoexertcognitive
(Harden & Tucker-Drob, 2011; Steinberg et al., 2008) has
controloverbehavioralimpulsesandatendencytoactwith-
demonstrated that mean levels of disinhibited traits show
out considering potential consequences, whereas we define
marked age-related change during adolescence, and adoles-
sensation seeking as the tendency to prefer and seek out
centswhoshowespeciallyrapidincreasesindisinhibitedtraits
novel, exciting, rewarding, and/or dangerous experiences
also show more rapid increases in ASB (Harden, Quinn, &
(Steinberg et al., 2008; Whiteside & Lynam, 2001). Impul-
Tucker-Drob, 2012). Previous studies have also shown that
sivity monotonically declines across adolescent develop-
ASBisaheterogeneousconstruct,withchildhoodcharacter-
ment,whilesensationseekinginitiallyincreasesduringearly
istics, including early-onset conduct problems and callous–
adolescence, but then declines during the transition into
unemotional traits, differentiating more severe forms of
adulthood. These divergent patterns of personality change
ASBthataremorelikelytopersistacrossthelifespan(Frick,
have been documented in both cross-sectional and longitu-
Ray,Thornton,&Kahn,2014,2015;Frick&Viding,2009;
dinalsamples,usingbothbehavioralandself-reportmeasures
(Cauffmanetal.,2010;Galvan,Hare,Voss,Glover,&Casey,
2007;Harden&Tucker-Drob,2011;Lynne-Landsman,Gra-
Addresscorrespondenceandreprintrequeststo:FrankD.Mann,Department
ber, Nichols, & Botvin, 2011; Shulman, Harden, Chien, &
ofPsychology,UniversityofTexasatAustin,108EastDeanKeetonStop
A8000,Austin,TX78712-1043;E-mail:[email protected]. Steinberg,2015;Steinbergetal.,2008).
1
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2 F.D.Mannetal.
Personalitychangeduringadolescencehasbeenexplained & Iacono, 2006; Hittner & Swickert, 2006; Littlefield &
in terms of the dual systems model, and the related matura- Sher,2010;Littlefield,Sher,&Steinley,2010).
tionalimbalancemodel,whichpositsthatadolescentbehav-
ioral development is shaped by a “maturity gap” between
Callous–UnemotionalityandLife-Course
neurobiological systems (Casey, 2015; Shulman et al.,
PersistentASB
2016).Thecognitivecontrolor“topdown”systemincludes
corticalregionsthatregulateimpulsecontrol,whilethesocio- While research testing the predictions of the dual-systems
emotionalor“bottomup”systemincludessubcorticalregions model continues to accumulate, a largely separate literature
(e.g.,theventralstriatumandamygdala),whichareinvolved has identifiedanotherform ofpersonalityriskforASB:cal-
in regulating responses to emotional and motivational cues. lous–unemotional traits, which reflect “a lack of empathy
The cognitive control system has a protracted maturational and affective processing” (Fontaine, McCrory, Boivin, Mof-
course throughout adolescence, resulting in slow but steady fitt,&Viding,2011,p.730)andan“interpersonalstylechar-
gainsinimpulsecontrol.Incontrast,thesocioemotionalsys- acterizedbyalackofguiltandempathyandacalloususeof
temdevelopsrapidlyinearlyadolescence,resultinginaspike others”(Frick&Viding,2009,p.1115).Inabehavioralge-
insensation-seekingbehavior.Thisdevelopmentalasymme- neticanalysisof9-yearoldtwins,Viding,Jones,Paul,Moffitt,
try between top down and bottom up systems is thought to andPlomin(2008)foundthatcallous–unemotionaltraitsdis-
drivetheriseinrisk-takingbehaviorthatistypicalofadoles- tinguished a highly heritable subtype of childhood conduct
cence,includingantisocialexpressionsofrisktaking. problems;geneticinfluencesaccountedfor71%versus36%
This model has largely focused on normative adolescent of the variance in conduct problems among children with
development,inthatitseekstodescribepersonalityandbe- andwithoutcallous–unemotionaltraits,respectively.Inaddi-
havioral changes that are (a) typical of most adolescents tion, Fontaine et al. (2011) found that callous–unemotional
and(b)developmentallyuniquetoadolescence. Asaresult, traitsinchildhooddistinguishedasubgroupofantisocialchil-
the changes in disinhibited traits described by the dual sys- drenwhohadthemostnegativeprofileoffamilyriskatage4
tems model may best account for adolescent-onset trajecto- and who showed the worst peer problems, emotional prob-
riesofASB(Moffitt,1993,2003,2006).Thatis,thematura- lems, and parent–child relationships at age 12. These results
tional imbalance between sensation seeking and impulse suggest the possibilityof differential etiological pathwaysto
control may characterize the etiology of ASB among teen- ASBamongyouthhighincallous–unemotionaltraits.
agerswhohaveminimalhistoriesofbehavioralproblemsin Within Moffitt’s (1993, 2003, 2006) developmental tax-
childhood,whofirstbegintoengageinrule-breakingbehav- onomy, children with high and persistent levels of callous–
ior during adolescence, and who engage predominantly in unemotionaltraitsmaybeconsideredasubtypeoflife-course
risk-taking(asopposedtoaggressive)formsofASB. persistent ASB, characterized by the continuation of behav-
Consistentwiththisperspective,HardenandTucker-Drob ioralproblemsacrossdevelopmentalperiods.Thelife-course
(2011) demonstrated that,in additionto mean-level patterns persistent trajectory is conceptualized as a more virulent
of change, there are individual differences in the rapidityof strainofASB.Forexample,life-coursepersistentindividuals
change in impulsivity and sensation seeking across adoles- engageinmoreaggressiveandviolentacts,withearlyonset
cence.Moreover,suchindividualdifferencesinchangepre- ofconductproblemsinchildhoodpredictingalifelongcourse
dict the development of ASB and related externalizing phe- ofaggressivebehaviorandcriminal offending(Laheyetal.,
notypes. Specifically, adolescents who show more rapid 1998; Lynam, 1996; Odgers et al., 2008). Acknowledging
increases in sensation seeking between ages 12 and 16 also theimportanceofcallous–unemotional traitsintheetiology
showmorerapidemergenceofASBduringthatsameperiod, anddevelopmentalcourseofASB,DSM-5addeda“limited
alongitudinalassociationthatcannotbeaccountedforbyre- prosocialemotions”specifiertothediagnosisofconductdis-
ciprocaleffectsofinvolvementinASBonsubsequentlevels ordertocharacterizeyouthatheightenedriskforaseveresub-
ofsensationseeking(Hardenetal.,2012).Thesefindingsare typeofASB(AmericanPsychiatricAssociation,2013).
consistentwith abreadthofpreviousevidenceshowingele-
vated sensation seeking among antisocial youth (Byck
IntegratingDevelopmentalModelsofASB
et al., 2015; Mann, Kretsch, Tackett, Harden, & Tucker-
Drob, 2015; Newcomb & McGee, 1991; Sijtsema et al., Although disinhibited personality and callous–unemotional
2010;Zuckerman,2007).Previousresearchhasalsodemon- traits have all been established as risk factors for youth
stratedapositiverelationshipbetweenimpulsivityanddelin- ASB,howthesetraitsintersectwithoneanotherislessclear.
quency(Bechtold,Cavanagh,Shulman,&Cauffman,2014; Asmallnumberofstudieshaveshownthatconductproblems
Cooperetal.,2003;Frick&Viding,2009;Giannotta&Ry- accompanied by callous–unemotional traits are associated
dell,2015;Moffitt,1993;Snowden&Gray,2011;Vitacco& withadistinctpatternofpersonalitycorrelates,ascompared
Rogers, 2001). Moreover, both impulsivity and sensation to child-onset conduct problems in the absence of callous–
seeking have been implicated in the development of related unemotional traits. For example, controlling for comorbid
externalizing behaviors in adolescence, including alcohol conduct problems, callous–unemotional traits were nega-
and substance use (Dicket al., 2010; Elkins, King, McGue, tively associated with neuroticism, agreeableness, and trait
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Personalityandadolescence 3
anxiety,whereasconductproblemswithoutcallous–unemo- literature in formulating our predictions.Specifically,we pose
tionaltraitswereassociatedwithelevatedanxietyandneurot- twoquestions.First,doyouthwithlowlevelsofguiltinchild-
icism (Frick, Lilienfeld, Ellis, Loney,& Silverthorne, 1999; hood (a component of callous–unemotional traits) also show
Lynametal., 2005;Pardini, Lochman,& Powell,2007;see higher levels of and more rapid changes in disinhibited traits
Frick&Ray,2014;Frick&White,2008,forreviews).Cal- inadolescence?Putdifferently,dolowlevelsofguiltinchild-
lous–unemotionaltraitswerealsouniquelyandpositivelyas- hoodpredictindividualdifferencesinthedevelopmentofsensa-
sociated with fearlessness and thrill seeking (Essau, Saga- tionseekingor impulsivityinadolescence? Second,doeslow
waga,&Frick,2006;Fricketal.,1999;Pardini,Obradovic, guiltinchildhood,orhighlevelsofcallous–unemotionaltraits
& Loeber, 2006). Based on these results, children with cal- inadolescence,moderatetherelationshipbetweendisinhibited
lous–unemotionaltraitswerehypothesizedtoevincea“fear- traitsandASBinadolescence?Thatis,dotherelationshipsbe-
less, thrill seeking, and behaviorally uninhibited tempera- tweendisinhibitedtraitsandASBgeneralizetoyouthwithlow
ment”(Frick&Viding,2009,p.1116). levelsofguiltinchildhoodorwhoshowhighlevelsofcallous–
Empiricalandtheoreticalworkonadultpsychopathyhas unemotionaltraitsinadolescence?Weexaminethesequestions
alsoprovidedsuggestive,butinconsistent,supportforarela- usingtwoindependentsamples.Study1usesalarge,nationally
tion between callous–unemotionality and disinhibited traits representative sample of youth followed prospectively from
of impulsivity and sensation seeking. Integrating conceptu- childhood through adolescence. Due to measurement con-
alizationsofpsychopathy,thetriarchicmodelconceptualizes straintsassociatedwithusingsecondarydata,inStudy1wefo-
adult psychopathy as encompassing three traits: meanness, cusononeaspectofcallous–unemotionaltraits:lackofguilt.In
boldness, and disinhibition (Patrick & Drislane, 2015; Pa- addition,tocontrolforpotentialconfounds,wealsosimultane-
trick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009). Meanness, defined by Pa- ouslyassessedtheroleofbiologicalsexandconductproblems
trick et al. (2009, p. 913) as “aggressive resource seeking inchildhood.Study2measurescallous–unemotionaltraitsmore
without regard for others,” is clearly related to, although comprehensivelyinacross-sectionalsampleofadolescents.
notperfectlysynonymouswith,theconstructofcallous–un- Based on the small bodyof previous research describing
emotionality.Sensationseekingisanaspectofboldness,de- childrenwithcallous–unemotionaltraitsasfearlessandthrill
finedas“thenexusofsocialdominance,emotionalresiliency, seeking,anddrawingontheoreticalmodelsofpsychopathyin
and venturesomeness,” while disinhibition, defined as “pro- adulthood, we hypothesized that youth with low levels of
pensity toward problems as impulse control,” corresponds guilt in childhood and high on callous–unemotional traits
to the construct of impulsivity as defined here. Relevant to inadolescencewouldshowhigherlevelsofdisinhibitedtraits
ourcurrenthypotheses,thetriarchicmodelpositsthatmean- andASBinadolescence.Inaddition,basedonthetheorythat
ness overlaps with both disinhibition and boldness. In par- childrenwithhighlevelsofcallous–unemotionaltraitsshow
ticular, the meanness–boldness association is hypothesized morepersistentandstableexpressionsofASB,wehypothe-
toreflectthesharedrootsofbothtraitsinadiminishedphys- sized that the relationship between disinhibited traits and
iologicalsensitivitytothreat. ASBwouldbeattenuatedforyouthhighoncallous–unemo-
Consistent with the triarchic conceptualization, analyses tionaltraits.Thatis,wehypothesizedthatyouthhighoncal-
of the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (Hare, 2003) have lous–unemotional traits would demonstrate ASB in adoles-
foundthatFactor1,whichcapturestheinterpersonalandaf- cence regardless of whether or not they experienced high
fective symptoms of psychopathy and includes callousness levelsofdisinhibitedpersonalityrisk.
andlackofremorse,andFactor2,whichincludesimpulsivity
and irresponsibility, are moderately correlated with one an-
other ((cid:2).5; Hare et al., 1990; reviewed by Patrick et al., Study1
2009). In contrast, factor analyses of the Psychopathic Per-
sonality Inventory in adults (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, Method
1996) found that “cold-heartedness” was uncorrelated with
Participants.
eitheroftheothertwoPPIfactors,whichincludetraitsrelated
toimpulsivityandfearlessness(Benning,Patrick,Hicks,Blo- Mother generation:The National LongitudinalSurveyof
ningen, & Krueger, 2003), although the authors suggested Youth (NLSY79). The Bureau of Labor Statistics designed
thatthePPIcold-heartednessscalecaptureslackofsentimen- andfundedtheNLSY79inordertostudyworkforcepartici-
tality, rather than meanness or callousness. Translating the pation in the United States. A complex survey design was
predictionsofthetriarchicmodeldownwardtotheyouthper- used to select a nationally representative sample of 3,000
sonalityconstructsexaminedhere,wehypothesizethatyouth householdscontaining6,111youth,plusanadditionalover-
highoncallous–unemotionaltraitswillshowelevatedlevels sample of 3,652 African American and Hispanic youth,
ofbothsensationseekingandimpulsivity. aged 14–21 years as of December 31, 1978. The response
Insummary,thecurrentstudyaimstocontributetotheinte- ratefortheinitialNLSY79surveywasover90%oftheeligi-
gration of two lines of research on the etiology of ASB (the ble sample, and participants have been reinterviewed an-
dual–systemsmodel,ontheonehand,andcallous–unemotional nuallyfrom1979to1994andbienniallysince1994.Reten-
traits,ontheother),whilealsodrawingontheadultpsychopathy tion rates for follow-up assessments of the NLSY79 sample
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4 F.D.Mannetal.
weregreaterthan90%forthefirst16wavesandgreaterthan variety of demographic and maternal characteristics: socio-
80%forsubsequentwaves. economicstatus,measuredusingself-reportedtotalfamilyin-
come(Mdn¼$22,500/year),includinggovernmentsupport
Adolescentgeneration:TheNLSY79ChildrenandYoung andfoodstampsbutexcludingincomereceivedbyunmarried
Adults (CNLSY).Beginningin1986,thebiological children cohabitingpartners,whenthemotherwas30yearsold;ma-
of the NLSY79 women were assessed biennially (Chase- ternal cognitive ability, measured in the 1980 assessment
Lansdale,Mott,Brooks-Gunn,&Phillips,1991).Theinitial using composite scores on the word knowledge, paragraph
participation rate was 95%, and the average retention rate comprehension, math knowledge, and arithmetic reasoning
through 2006 was approximately 90%. Beginning in 1988, subtestsoftheArmedServicesVocationalAptitudeBattery;
childrenovertheageof10completedindividualsupplemen- maternal education, measured using maternal report of the
talinterviewsthatassessed theirattitudes andbehaviors.Fi- number of years of school they had completed (M ¼ 13.4
nally, beginning in 1994, older children who were age 15 years,SD¼2.50years;approximately9%ofthesamplere-
bytheendofthesurveycalendaryear(termedyoungadults ported11yearsorless);andmaternalageatfirstbirth(M¼
bytheNLSYsurveyadministrators)wereadministeredasep- 21.9,SD¼4.52,range¼11.7–38.3years).Thisprocessen-
arateinterview.Asof 2006,11,466childrenwereidentified suresthatassociationsbetweenchildhoodcharacteristicsand
ashavingbeenbornto6,283NLSY79women.Afterweight- disinhibited traits are not confounded by these household
ing for sample selection, the average NLSY79 woman had characteristics. It also ensures that the associations between
1.9childrenasof2006,whichismorethan90%oftheirul- disinhibitedtraitsandASBarenotsimilarlyconfounded.Re-
timate predicted childbearing. The current study uses data sidualizedsumscoreswerethenstandardizedtozscoresprior
from youth who had nonmissing data on conduct problems toconductinganalyses.
or lack of guilt in childhood at least once between the ages
of4and10,andwhoreportedondelinquentbehaviorordis- AdolescentASB.Beginningin1988,childrenwhowereat
inhibitedpersonalityatleastoncebetweenages12and16. least10yearsoldbutnotyet15wereadministeredtheChild
Self-Administered Supplement, which included six items
from the Self-Report of Delinquency (SRD; Elliott & Hui-
Measures.
zinga, 1983): hurt someone bad enough to need bandages
Disinhibited personality. Impulsivity was measured by or a doctor; lied to a parent about something important;
youthself-reportonthreeitems:“Ioftengetinajambecause tooksomethingfromastorewithoutpayingforit;intention-
Idothingswithoutthinking,”“Ithinkthatplanningtakesthe ally damaged or destroyed property that did not belong to
funoutofthings,”and“Ihavetousealotofself-controlto you;hadtobringyourparent(s)toschoolbecauseofsome-
keep out of trouble.” Sensation seeking was measured by thingyoudidwrong;andskippedadayofschoolwithoutper-
youthself-reportonthefollowingthreeitems:“Ienjoytaking mission.Beginningin1994,youthwhowere15yearsoldor
risks”;“Ienjoynewandexcitingexperiences,eveniftheyare olderwereadministeredtheYoungAdultAssessment,which
alittlefrighteningorunusual”;and“Lifewithnodangerinit alsoincludedthesixSRDitems.Becauseofbudgetarycon-
wouldbetoodullforme.”Thesesixitemscomprisedascale straints,theSRDitemsweredroppedfromtheYoungAdult
intended to measure propensity for risk taking, which were Assessment (but not the Child Self-Administered Supple-
drawnfrommultipleinventories(CenterforHumanResource ment)in2000only.EachoftheSRDitemswasdichotomized
Research,2009),andallitems were ratedona4-point scale asneverversusatleastonceormoreandsummed.Symptom
ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Note that countsthusrangedfrom 0to6(Mdn¼1,M ¼1.29,SD¼
previouslypublishedfactoranalyticworkoftheseitemsindi- 1.39). Previous analyses of CNLSY data (described in
cates that they comprise distinct factors (Harden & Tucker- Harden et al., 2009) have tested the criterion validityof the
Drob, 2011). Moreover, the pattern of correlations between SRD items and found that these items significantly predict,
sensationseeking,impulsivity,andBigFivepersonalitytraits forbothmalesandfemales,theoddsofbeingconvictedfor
inthefullCNLSYsamplewereconsistentwithpreviousem- a nontrivial criminal offense (excluding drug possession),
piricalresearch,withsignificantandpositivecorrelationsbe- controllingforabroadvarietyofdemographicandcontextual
tweensensationseekingandconcurrentmeasuresofextraver- backgroundvariables.TheCronbachavalueforthesixSRD
sionandopenness,andsignificantandnegativecorrelations itemswas0.64–0.68ateachassessmentwave.
between impulsivity and concurrent measures of conscien-
tiousnessandemotionalstability(thereverseofneuroticism). Child conduct problems. Biennially beginning in 1986,
The internal consistencies of the impulsivity and sensation mothers reported on children’s conduct problems using
seeking scales, averaged across waves, were moderate to nineitems:cheatsortellslies;bulliesoriscruel/meantooth-
high in magnitude (a ¼ 0.52 for moderate, a ¼ 0.69 for ers; breaks things deliberately; is disobedient at school; has
high). troublegettingalongwithteachers;arguestoomuch;isdis-
Following previously published analyses of these vari- obedient at home; is stubborn,sullen, or irritable; and has a
ables (Harden, Quinn, & Tucker-Drob, 2012), sensation- strongtemperandlosesiteasily.Itemswereratedona3-point
seeking and impulsivity sum scores were residualized for a scalerangingfromnotatalltruetoverytrue.TheCronbacha
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Personalityandadolescence 5
value for the nine items was 0.81–0.83 across assessment McArdle & Nesselroade, 2003; Meredith & Tisak, 1990)
waves.Abroadcompositescoreforchildhoodconductprob- in the software program Mplus version 7.11 (Muthe´n &
lemswasconstructedbycalculatingthemeanresponseacross Muthe´n, 1998–2012). Absolute model fit was evaluated us-
nineitemsandfouragegroups:4–5,6–7,8–9,and10–11(M ing model x2 and root mean square error of approximation
¼0.40,SD¼0.29).Table1summarizesthestabilitiesacross (RMSEA), which measures the amount of misfit on the
childhoodforconductproblems,descriptivestatisticsateach modelpermodeldegreeoffreedom(Steiger,1990).RMSEA
age,andthezero-orderrelationsbetweenthecompositescore valuesoflessthan0.05indicateaclosefit,andvaluesupto
and scores at each age. For subsequent analyses, conduct 0.08 represent reasonable errors of approximation. Model
problemsscoreswerestandardized. comparisons were made using change in model x2 and
Akaike information criteria (AIC), which provide a parsi-
Childlackofguilt.Bienniallybeginningin1986,mothers mony-adjustedindexofpredictivefit,withlowervaluesindi-
reportedonwhethertheirchild“doesnotseemtofeelsorry catingpreferredmodels.
about misbehaving” on a 3-point scale ranging from not at ThetrivariategrowthcurvemodelisdepictedinFigure1.
all true to very true. The mean rating on this item across ChangesinadolescentASB,impulsivity,andsensationseek-
ages4–5,6–7,8–9,and10–11(M¼0.39,SD¼0.42)was ingfromages12–13yearsto15–16yearswereeachmodeled
used to measure average lack of guilt across childhood. asafunctionofalatentinterceptfactor,representingindivid-
Table 2 summarizes the stabilities across childhood (lack ualdifferencesininitiallevelsofeachconstruct,andalatent
of) guilt, sample statistics at each age, and the relations be- slopefactor,representingindividualdifferencesinwithin-in-
tweenthecompositescoreandscoresateachage.Toeasein- dividual change across the three waves of data collection.
terpretation,lackofguiltscoreswerestandardizedforusein Consistent with previously published analyses of these data
subsequentanalyses. (Hardenetal.,2012),toaccountfordeparturesfromlinearity,
changewas modeled using a “latent basis” model, in which
Analytic methods. Patterns of missing data are complex and theloadingsofeachslopefactoronthefirstandlastmeasure
are described in detail in the CNLSY user’s guide (see ofeachconstructwerefixedto0and1,respectively,whilethe
http://www.nlsinfo.org/childya/nlsdocs/guide/intro/Retention. loadings onthe intermediatemeasurementswere freelyesti-
htm). Of the 7,106 youth included in the current analysis, matedfromthedata(McArdle,2009).Next,thelatentinter-
80% contributed data on ASB at ages 12–13, 78% at ages ceptandslopefactorswereregressedonthreevariables:bio-
14–15, and 70% at age 16–17. All models were estimated logical sex, child conduct problems, and child lackof guilt.
using full information maximum likelihood, which has These regressions test whether average levels of childhood
been recommended as the preferred method for accounting conductproblems,lackofguilt,andmalesexpredictindivid-
formissingdata(Schafer&Graham,2002).Inaddition,stan- ualdifferencesinthedevelopmentofdisinhibitedpersonality
darderrorsandmodelfitstatisticswereadjustedfornoninde- inadolescence.
pendenceofdataonchildrenfromthesamefamily(i.e.,sib- Next, we expanded the trivariate growth curve (main ef-
lingclusters;Rabe-Hesketh&Skrondal,2006).Dataweremod- fects)modeltoatrivariategrowthcurve(moderation)model
eled using a series of latent growth curve models (LGMs; that allowed for the correlations among the latent intercept
Table1.Descriptivestatisticsandobservedcorrelationsamongmeasuresofconductproblemsandlowguiltinchildhood
(National Longitudinal Surveyof Youth)
DescriptiveStatistics ConductProblems LowGuilt
ChildhoodMeasure M(SD) 4–5 6–7 8–9 10–11 Avg. 4–5 6–7 8–9 10–11 Avg.
Conductproblems
Age4–5 0.42(0.34) 1.00
Age6–7 0.37(0.32) .55 1.00
Age8–9 0.39(0.34) .51 .61 1.00
Age10–11 0.39(0.35) .47 .56 .65 1.00
Childhoodmean 0.40(0.29) .77 .80 .84 .84 1.00
Lowguilt
Age4–5 0.44(0.63) .36 .23 .21 .22 .31 1.00
Age6–7 0.39(0.61) .23 .37 .28 .26 .34 .20 1.00
Age8–9 0.37(0.60) .24 .29 .42 .30 .38 .19 .26 1.00
Age10–11 0.37(0.59) .24 .27 .33 .45 .40 .18 .23 .28 1.00
Childhoodmean 0.39(0.42) .40 .44 .50 .50 .55 .64 .65 .66 .66 1.00
Note:Cross-time,same-measurecorrelationsareitalicandcross-measure,same-timecorrelationsarebold.Allcorrelationsaresignificantlydifferentthanzeroat
p,.05.
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6 F.D.Mannetal.
Table2.Observedcorrelationsamongchildhoodcharacteristics,disinhibitedpersonality,andASB(NationalLongitudinal
Surveyof Youth)
IMP-12 IMP-14 IMP-16 SS-12 SS-14 SS-16 ASB-12 ASB-14 ASB-16 ChildCP ChildLG
IMP-12 1.00
IMP-14 .27 1.00
IMP-16 .24 .28 1.00
SS-12 .29 .16 .15 1.00
SS-14 .07 .28 .18 .34 1.00
SS-16 .12 .06 .30 .26 .43 1.00
ASB-12 .28 .20 .15 .20 .11 .08 1.00
ASB-14 .17 .33 .22 .18 .25 .12 .37 1.00
ASB-16 .14 .18 .28 .14 .20 .28 .26 .41 1.00
ChildCP .19 .16 .19 .09 .06 .08 .26 .21 .21 1.00
ChildLG .11 .08 .10 .01 .02 .04 .16 .13 .14 .55 1.00
Note:Cross-time,same-measurecorrelationsareitalicandcross-measure,same-timecorrelationsarebold.ASB,antisocialbehavior;IMP,impulsivity;SS,sen-
sationseeking;CP,conductproblems;LG,lowguilt(codedsuchthathigherscoresindicatelowerlevelsofguilt).Correlationswithanabsolutevalueof,.03
arenotsignificantlydifferentthanzeroatp,.05(twotailed).
factorsandlatentslopefactorstovaryaslinearfunctions of the data well (x2 ¼ 101.29, df ¼ 25, p , .001; RMSEA ¼
sex, childhood conduct problems, and lack of guilt. This 0.02,comparativefitindex[CFI]¼0.98,AIC¼84,011.71).
model was used to test whether (level–level and slope– Figure 2 showsthe predicted levels of impulsivity, sensation
slope1) associations between disinhibited personality and seeking,andASBimpliedbythegrowthcurvemodel,ascom-
ASB are moderated by individual differences in levels of paredtotheobservedmeansateachage.
guilt.Becausecallous–unemotionaltraitsarehigher,onaver- The model captures the observed pattern of mean-level
age,inmalesandyouthwithchildhoodconductproblems,we changequitewell,accountingfor41%–54%oftheobserved
includedthemoderatingeffectofsexandconductproblems, variance in sensation seeking at each age, 26%–40% of the
inordertoensurethatanymoderatingeffectsoflackofguilt observed variance in impulsivity, and 39%–42% of the ob-
were not artifacts of sex differences or comorbidity with served variance in ASB. As previously reported (Harden
childhoodconductproblems.Allmoderationeffectswerees- et al., 2012; Harden & Tucker-Drob, 2011), mean changes
timated simultaneously using moderated structural equation in sensation seeking and ASB during adolescence were
modeling (for an overview and detailed example, see positive,whereasmeanchangeinimpulsivity was negative.
Tucker-Drob,2009),suchthateacheffectcontrolsforpoten- Figure3showstheestimatedcorrelationsamongtheintercept
tialmoderationbytheothercovariates.Thesemoderationef- andslopefactorsforthethreeconstructs.
fectstestwhethertherelationsamonglevelsofandchangesin Thereweresignificantlevel–levelassociationsamongim-
disinhibited personality and ASB are consistent across bio- pulsivity,sensationseeking,andASB:adolescentswhowere
logicalsex,aswellasindividualswithahistoryofchildcon- higher,onaverage,onanyoneofthesephenotypestendedto
duct problems and low levels of guilt. Given the numberof be higheron all of the others. Moreover, therewere signifi-
moderationeffectstestedinthismodel(m¼18),todecrease cantchange-changeassociations:adolescentswhoincreased
thechanceofTypeIerrors,weadoptedaBonferroni-correc- morerapidlyinsensationseekingalsoincreasedmorerapidly
ted threshold for statistical significance (a/m ¼ a ¼ in delinquent behavior, and adolescents who declined more
corrected
0.002), which is more stringent than conventional standards slowly in impulsivity also showed more rapidly increasing
(a¼0.05). delinquentbehavior.Finally,therewasaninverseassociation
betweenlevelandchangeforeachvariable:individualswho
ResultsofStudy1
hadinitiallyhigherlevelsshowed,onaverage,lessrapidin-
Doeslowlevelsofguiltinchildhoodpredictthedevelopment creases (for sensation seeking and ASB) or more rapid de-
ofdisinhibitedpersonalityinadolescence?ThefirstLGMfit creases(forimpulsivity).Suchnegativelevel–slopeassocia-
tionsarefrequentlyobservedinLGMresults.Thus,resultsof
the trivariate latent growth curve model are consistent with
1. Cross-variablelevel–slopeassociationsweretested.However,usingAIC
previousliterature.
andBICasanindicatorofmodelfit,amodelthatfreelyestimatedcross-
variablelevel–slopeassociationsbetweenimpulsivity,sensationseeking, Figure4plotsthemainparametersofinterestfromModel
and antisocial behavior fit the data worse (AIC ¼ 84,020.39, BIC ¼ 1,thatis,thestandardizedregressionsofthelatentintercept
84,446.25)thanamodelthatconstrainedcross-variablelevel–slopeasso- andslopefactorsonlackofguilt,malesex,andchildconduct
ciationstoequalzero(AIC¼84,011.71,BIC¼84,396.35).Changein
problems. Regarding the development of sensation seeking
modelx2confirmedthatconstrainingcross-variablelevel–slopeassocia-
tionstoequalzerodoesnotresultinsignificantmisfittothedata(Dx2¼ (shownintheleftpanelofFigure4),malesexandchildcon-
2.93,Ddf¼6,p¼.82). duct problems predicted higher levels of sensation seeking,
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t
8 F.D.Mannetal.
Figure2.Thepredictedlevelsofimpulsivity,sensationseeking,andantisocialbehaviorimpliedbythegrowthcurvemodel,ascomparedtothe
observedmeansateachage(NationalLongitudinalSurveyofYouth).
whereas low levels of guilt in childhood predicted lower biological sex: male sex and child conduct problems, but
levelsofsensationseeking.Inaddition,malesshowedmore not lack of guilt, predicted higher levels of ASB in adoles-
rapid increases in sensation seeking, compared to females. cence.However,noneofthevariablessignificantlypredicted
Neither child conduct problems nor lack of guilt predicted change in ASB (ps . .10). Thus, while biological sex and
change in sensation seeking. Regarding impulsivity (shown conductproblemsinchildhoodpredictedinitiallevelsofdis-
in the right panel of Figure 4), male sex and child conduct inhibitedtraits,individualdifferencesinchangeintheseper-
problems predicted higher levels of impulsivity, whereas sonalitytraitswerenotsignificantlyassociatedwithbiologi-
child lack of guilt was unrelated to levels of impulsivity. calsex,conductproblems, or levels ofguilt. Moreover, low
Noneofthethreevariablespredictedchangeinimpulsivity. levelsofguiltinchildhoodpredictedlowlevelsofsensation
Note that these effects were estimated while simultaneously seekinginadolescence,butdidnotpredictlevelsofimpulsiv-
accounting for associations between disinhibited traits and ity or ASB. In other words, higher conduct problems pre-
ASBacrossadolescence(reportedinFigure5),aswellasas- dictedhighersensationseeking,impulsivity,andASB;con-
sociations between adolescent antisocial behavior and con- trolling for these effects, low levels of guilt predicted lower
duct problems in childhood, lack of guilt in childhood, and levelsofsensationseeking.
Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Texas Libraries, on 06 Jul 2017 at 16:09:56, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457941700061X
Personalityandadolescence 9
Figure3.Theestimatedcorrelationsamongtheinterceptandslopefactorsforthethreeconstructs(NationalLongitudinalSurveyofYouth).
Dochildconductproblemsandlackofguiltmoderateasso- fromModel2aretheinteractiontermsrepresentingwhether
ciations between disinhibited personality development and male sex, child conduct problems, and child lack of guilt
ASB in adolescence? The interaction model (Model 2) fit moderate the associations among disinhibited personality
the data significantly better than Model 1 (Satorra–Bentler and ASB in adolescence. The interaction terms are scaled
scaled chi-square difference test [Dx] ¼ 36.85, Ddf ¼ 18, such that they represent the extent to which the level–level
p¼.005,AIC¼84,004.79).Thekeyparametersofinterest orslope–slopeassociationsbetweentwoconstructsincrease
Figure4.(Coloronline)ThemainparametersofinterestfromModel1,thatis,thestandardizedregressionsofthelatentinterceptandslope
factorsonlackofguilt,malesex,andchildconductproblems(NationalLongitudinalSurveyofYouth).
Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Texas Libraries, on 06 Jul 2017 at 16:09:56, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at
https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457941700061X
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