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