[Formula: see text]Executive functions and social information processing in adolescents with severe behavior problems.

One tradition in research for explaining aggression and antisocial behavior has focused on social information processing (SIP). Aggression and antisocial behavior have also been studied from the perspective of executive functions (EFs), the higher-order cognitive abilities that affect other cognitive processes, such as social cognitive processes. The main goal of the present study is to provide insight into the relation between EFs and SIP in adolescents with severe behavior problems. Because of the hierarchical relation between EFs and SIP, we examined EFs as predictors of SIP. We hypothesized that, first, focused attention predicts encoding and interpretation, second, inhibition predicts interpretation, response generation, evaluation, and selection, and third, working memory predicts response generation and selection. The participants consisted of 94 respondents living in residential facilities aged 12-20 years, all showing behavior problems in the clinical range according to care staff. EFs were assessed using subtests from the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Test battery. Focused attention was measured by the Flanker task, inhibition by the GoNoGo task, and working memory by the Visual Spatial Sequencing task. SIP was measured by video vignettes and a structured interview. The results indicate that positive evaluation of aggressive responses is predicted by impaired inhibition and selection of aggressive responses by a combination of impaired focused attention and inhibition. It is concluded that different components of EFs as higher-order cognitive abilities affect SIP.

Are Proactive and Reactive Aggression Meaningful Distinctions in Adolescents? A Variable- and Person-Based Approach.

This study was designed to examine whether proactive and reactive aggression are meaningful distinctions at the variable- and person-based level, and to determine their associated behavioral profiles. Data from 587 adolescents (mean age 15.6; 71.6 % male) from clinical samples of four different sites with differing levels of aggression problems were analyzed. A multi-level Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify classes of individuals (person-based) with similar aggression profiles based on factor scores (variable-based) of the Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (RPQ) scored by self-report. Associations were examined between aggression factors and classes, and externalizing and internalizing problem behavior scales by parent report (CBCL) and self-report (YSR). Factor-analyses yielded a three factor solution: 1) proactive aggression, 2) reactive aggression due to internal frustration, and 3) reactive aggression due to external provocation. All three factors showed moderate to high correlations. Four classes were detected that mainly differed quantitatively (no 'proactive-only' class present), yet also qualitatively when age was taken into account, with reactive aggression becoming more severe with age in the highest affected class yet diminishing with age in the other classes. Findings were robust across the four samples. Multiple regression analyses showed that 'reactive aggression due to internal frustration' was the strongest predictor of YSR and CBCL internalizing problems. However, results showed moderate to high overlap between all three factors. Aggressive behavior can be distinguished psychometrically into three factors in a clinical sample, with some differential associations. However, the clinical relevance of these findings is challenged by the person-based analysis showing proactive and reactive aggression are mainly driven by aggression severity.

Trajectories of adolescent conduct problems in relation to cortical thickness development: a longitudinal MRI study.

Multiple cross-sectional imaging studies have identified structural abnormalities in prefrontal, temporal and limbic regions related to conduct problems (CPs). However, the relationship between development of such neurobiological deficits and developmental pathways of CPs has remained unclear. The current study investigated distinct trajectories of CP and related trajectories of cortical thickness within a community-based sample of adolescents (n=239), age range 12-19, to address this gap. Three trajectory classes were revealed using latent class growth analyses (LCGAs), comprising a 'desisting' CP group, an 'intermediate' CP group and a 'stable low' CP group. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were collected with a subgroup of 171 adolescents at three waves throughout adolescence (ages 12, 16 and 19). Generalized estimating equation (GEE) analysis-comparing longitudinal changes in cortical thickness and subcortical volume between CP groups for several regions of interest (ROIs)-showed that these CP groups had differential trajectories of cortical thickness in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dl-PFC), and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and volume of the hippocampus. Adolescents in the desisting CP group showed an attenuation of the typical pattern of cortical thinning as present in the intermediate and stable low CP groups, in addition to an exaggeration of the typical pattern of hippocampal volume increase. These findings suggest that a deviant cortical thickness trajectory was related to a desisting CP pathway across adolescence. Such deviant neurodevelopmental growth trajectories may act as an underlying mechanism for developmental CP pathways, and possibly distinguish desisting antisocial adolescents.