Department of Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11210, USA.
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2017 Nov;45(8):1553-1564. doi: 10.1007/s10802-017-0262-0.
The display of antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents has been of interest to criminologists and developmental psychologists for years. Exposure to social adversity is a well-documented predictor of antisocial behavior. Additionally, measures of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, including heart rate variability (HRV), pre-ejection period (PEP), and heart rate, have been associated with antisocial behaviors including rule-breaking and aggression. Social neuroscience research has begun to investigate how neurobiological underpinnings affect the relationship between social adversity and antisocial/psychopathic behavior in children and adolescents. This study investigated the potential mediating effects of ANS activity on the relationship between social adversity and antisocial behavior in a group of 7- to 10-year-old children from the community (N = 339; 48.2% male). Moderated multiple mediation analyses revealed that low resting heart rate, but not PEP or HRV, mediated the relationship between social adversity and antisocial behavior in males only. Social adversity but not ANS measures were associated with antisocial behavior in females. Findings have implications for understanding the neural influences that underlie antisocial behavior, illustrate the importance of the social environment regarding the expression of these behaviors, and highlight essential gender differences.
多年来，儿童和青少年的反社会行为一直是犯罪学家和发展心理学家感兴趣的话题。暴露于社会逆境是反社会行为的一个有充分记录的预测因素。此外，自主神经系统 (ANS) 活动的测量指标，包括心率变异性 (HRV)、射血前期 (PEP) 和心率，与包括违反规则和攻击行为在内的反社会行为有关。社会神经科学研究已经开始研究神经生物学基础如何影响儿童和青少年社会逆境与反社会/精神病行为之间的关系。本研究调查了在一组来自社区的 7 至 10 岁儿童（N=339；48.2%为男性）中，ANS 活动在社会逆境与反社会行为之间的关系中的潜在中介作用。调节多重中介分析表明，仅在男性中，低静息心率而非 PEP 或 HRV 中介了社会逆境与反社会行为之间的关系。社会逆境而非 ANS 测量与女性的反社会行为有关。研究结果对于理解反社会行为的神经影响具有重要意义，说明了社会环境对这些行为表达的重要性，并突出了重要的性别差异。
