An Examination of the Relationship Between Head Injuries and Antisocial Personality Disorder: Results from a Sample of Juvenile Detainees

• In Event: Recent Developments in Biosocial Research on Head Injury, Offending, and Victimization

Abstract

Previous research documents that head injuries are more common among justice involved youth. One proposed argument for this occurrence is that sustaining a head injury early in life is linked to neuropsychological deficits, which in turn, increases the risk of subsequent delinquent behavior. Researchers have studied the associations between head injuries and antisocial behavioral traits such as impulsivity, low self-control, moral disengagement, aggression, and offending. However, comparatively less research has examined longitudinal data on juvenile detainees to assess how head injuries are related to a psychiatric diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder – a robust and stable correlate of delinquent and criminal offending – as well as changes in the rates of remission over time. The current study aimed to begin to address this gap in literature by analyzing six waves of data from the Northwestern Juvenile Project to evaluate the relationship between head injuries, onset of diagnosis, and stability and change in diagnosis among a sample of over 1,200 currently and previously detained juveniles. Implications of these findings for clinical practice as well as research on head injuries moving forward are discussed.

Authors

• Victoria Laugalis, Sam Houston State University

• Eric Connolly, Sam Houston State University