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The antisocial family tree: family histories of behavior problems in antisocial personality in the United States

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Abstract

Background

Multiple avenues of research (e.g., criminal careers, intergenerational family transmission, and epidemiological studies) have indicated a concentration of antisocial traits and behaviors that cluster among families and within individuals in a population. The current study draws on each of these perspectives in exploring the intergenerational contours of antisocial personality disorder across multiple generations of a large-scale epidemiological sample.

Methods

The analytic sample of persons meeting criteria for antisocial personality disorder (N = 1,226) was derived from waves I and II of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Path analytic, latent class, and multinomial models were executed to describe and elucidate family histories among persons diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.

Results

Three classes of an antisocial family tree were found: minimal family history of problem behaviors (70.3 % of sample) who were characterized by higher socioeconomic functioning, parental and progeny behavior problems (9.4 % of sample) who were characterized by criminal behaviors, psychopathology, and substance use disorders, and multigenerational history of problem behaviors (20.3 % of sample) who were characterized by alcoholism, psychopathology, and versatile criminal offending.

Conclusions

These findings add a typology to intergenerational studies of antisocial behavior that can assist in identifying etiological and treatment factors among those for whom crime runs in the family.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by Grant number R25 DA026401 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Tegeler Hall, 3550 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA

    Michael G. Vaughn

  2. School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Christopher P. Salas-Wright

  3. Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Matt DeLisi

  4. Department of Epidemiology, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Zhengmin Qian

Authors
  1. Michael G. Vaughn
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  2. Christopher P. Salas-Wright
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  3. Matt DeLisi
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  4. Zhengmin Qian
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Correspondence to Michael G. Vaughn.

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Vaughn, M.G., Salas-Wright, C.P., DeLisi, M. et al. The antisocial family tree: family histories of behavior problems in antisocial personality in the United States. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 50, 821–831 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0987-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0987-9

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