Sex differences in child-onset, life-course-persistent conduct disorder. A review of biological influences

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2007.02.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Sex is widely acknowledged to be an important factor in understanding many aspects of behavior, not the least of which is antisocial behavior. When antisocial behavior manifests itself in the domain of juvenile psychopathology, it often takes the form of a type of conduct disorder (CD) that begins in childhood and is life-course-persistent. There is an overwhelming consensus that there is a massive male preponderance in this type of CD and that biological variables are major influences on this difference. This review built on this consensual scaffolding in an attempt to provide some useful leads for identifying the biological contributions to the predominantly male complexion of life-course-persistent CD by linking it to three different levels of biological mechanisms.

Section snippets

Three level model

This section provides an overview of an adaptation of the three level model which will serve as the basic structure for the review of the major biological influences on antisocial and violent behavior that have been identified by Raine (2002b) as: genetic, neuropsychological, neurochemical, psychophysiological, hormonal, and obstetric. These influences have been conceptualized by Rutter et al. (2003) as operating at three different levels. At the first level, there is the distal basis starting

Level 1 sex chromosomes

The sex chromosomes are the ultimate biological origin of all sex differences (Arnold, 2004). Approximately 300 million years ago the two human sex chromosomes began to evolve from the same ancestral autosome (Stix, 2004, Willard, 2003) and thus began a genetic divergence whose results have now been fully decoded (Page et al., 2003, Page et al., 2005, Ross et al., 2005, Rozen et al., 2003). It is thought that the divergence was initiated by a rearrangement of the Y chromosome which erected a

Level 2 genetic sex differences and their biological consequences

The aforementioned sex chromosomal differences result in several genetic sex differences and concomitant biological consequences for males relevant for the paper.

Level 3 risk and protective mechanisms

Examination of the consequences of the prior distal levels which result in biologically based proximal risk or protective mechanisms that are more directly implicated in the sex difference in CD constitutes the heart of this paper and will thus be accorded the lion's share of ink. In order to establish influence at this level, Rutter et al. (2003) established four criteria. First, it must be shown how the proximal mechanisms link up with the first two levels of the causal model and how they

Evolved psychological disposition to engage in physical aggression

Human aggression can be defined as any behavior directed toward another individual that is carried out with the immediate intent to cause harm (Anderson and Bushman, 2002, Dodge et al., 2006). The type of aggression most relevant to understanding the sex difference in CD is direct, physical aggression which occurs in real world settings. Hence for the purposes of this review, aggression will refer to direct, physical real world aggression. This type of aggression is more common in males at all

Neuropsychological impairments

Beginning with the seminal work of Moffitt, 1993a, Moffitt, 1993b, reviewers have unanimously concluded that some form of neuropsychological impairment is involved in the etiology of CD (Coie and Dodge, 1998, Dodge et al., 2006, Hill, 2002, Hinshaw and Lee, 2003, Ishikawa and Raine, 2003, Moffitt, 2006, Morgan and Lilienfeld, 2000, Raine, 2002a, Raine, 2002b; Raine et al., 2005; Rutter, 2003a). The mechanism of neuropsychological impairment is commonly thought to mediate risk for CD by causing

Conclusions and future directions

There is a strong scientific consensus that life-course-persistent CD represents the most virulent type of CD that this type of CD is virtually an exclusive male phenomenon, and that biological variables play a major role in its development. This review attempted to provide some useful leads for identifying the precise biological influences which help explain why CD is almost exclusively a male disorder. In so doing, it hopefully contributed to the development of an emerging general consensus

References (170)

  • J. Archer

    The importance of theory for evaluating evidence on sex differences

    American Psychologist

    (2006)
  • J. Archer et al.

    Variability among males in sexually selected attributes

    Review of General Psychology

    (2003)
  • A. Arnold

    Sex chromosomes and brain gender

    Nature Neuroscience

    (2004)
  • W. Arsenio

    The stability of young children's physical aggression: Relations with childcare, gender, and aggression subtypes

    Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development

    (2004)
  • J. Arsuage et al.

    Size variation in middle Pleistocene humans

    Science

    (1997)
  • R. Barkley

    ADHD in children and adolescents

  • R. Barkley

    Primary symptoms, diagnostic criteria, prevalence, and gender differences

  • R. Barkley

    Comorbid disorders, adjustment, and subtyping

  • R. Barkley

    A theory of ADHD

  • R. Barkley

    Etiologies

  • S. Baron-Cohen

    Men, women and the extreme male brain

    (2003)
  • S. Baron-Cohen et al.

    Sex differences in the brain: Implications for autism

    Science

    (2005)
  • S. Baron-Cohen et al.

    Prenatal testosterone in mind

    (2004)
  • J. Beck et al.

    The influence of perinatal complications and environmental adversity on boys' antisocial behavior

    Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

    (2005)
  • S. Berenbaum

    Prenatal androgens and sexual differentiation of behavior

  • S. Berenbaum et al.

    Effects on gender identity of prenatal androgens and genital appearance: Evidence from girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

    Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

    (2004)
  • S. Berenbaum et al.

    Sex determination, differentiation, and identity

    New England Journal of Medicine

    (2004, May 20)
  • B. Bettencourt et al.

    Gender differences in aggression as a function of provocation: A meta-analysis

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1996)
  • J. Biederman et al.

    Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

    The Lancet

    (2005)
  • J. Biederman et al.

    Impact of executive function deficits and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on academic outcomes in children

    Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

    (2004)
  • D. Bjorklund

    Evolutionary psychology from a developmental systems perspective: Comment on Lickliter and Honeycutt (2003)

    Psychological Bulletin

    (2003)
  • M. Boulton

    The relationship between playful and aggressive fighting in children, adolescents and adults

  • W. Boyce et al.

    Biological sensitivity to context: I. An evolutionary-developmental theory of the origins and functions of stress reactivity

    Development and Psychopathology

    (2005)
  • T. Brown

    Attention deficit disorder

    (2005)
  • D. Buss

    Psychological sex differences

    American Psychologist

    (1995)
  • D. Buss

    Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind

    (2004)
  • D. Buss et al.

    Evolutionary psychology and developmental dynamics: Comment on Lickliter and Honeycutt (2003)

    Psychological Bulletin

    (2003)
  • L. Carrel et al.

    X-inactivation profile reveals extensive variability in X-linked gene expression in females

    Nature

    (2005)
  • A. Caspi et al.

    Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children

    Science

    (2002)
  • J. Coie et al.

    Aggression and antisocial behavior

  • M. Collear et al.

    Human behavioral sex differences: A role for gonadal hormones during early development?

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1995)
  • I. Craig et al.

    The genetic basis for sex differences in human behavior: Role of the sex chromosomes

    Annals of Human Genetics

    (2004)
  • J. Crow

    The origins, patterns and implications of human spontaneous mutation

    Nature Reviews Genetics

    (2000)
  • G. De Vries et al.

    A model system for study of sex chromosome effects on sexually dimorphic neural and behavioral traits

    The Journal of Neuroscience

    (2002)
  • K. Dodge et al.

    Aggression and antisocial behavior in youth

  • K. Dodge et al.

    A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence

    Developmental Psychology

    (2003)
  • A. Eagly et al.

    The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles

    American Psychologist

    (1999)
  • F. Earls et al.

    Conduct and oppositional disorders

  • N. Else-Quest et al.

    Gender differences in temperament: A meta-analysis

    Psychological Bulletin

    (2006)
  • R. Eme

    Selective female affliction in the developmental disorders of childhood: A literature review

    Journal of Clinical Child Psychology

    (1992)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text