Psychobiology of Aggression and Antisocial Behaviour across the Lifespan: CAMH Research Annual Report 2002

Aggression and antisocial behaviour pose huge challenges and costs to perpetrator, victim, and society. To address this issue, the Psychobiology of Aggression Clinical Research Section incorporates researchers from the Child Psychiatry and Law and Mental Health Programs, permitting the conduct of this research across the lifespan. Section researchers address issues of etiology and risk (both genetic and environmental), intervention/management and knowledge transfer. Etiology and Risk Several investigators are attempting to unravel the etiology of aggressive and antisocial behaviour. Drs. Joe Beitchman and James Kennedy and colleagues are investigating select serotonin system genes and aggressive behaviour. They demonstrated that one form of one of the serotonin system genes was significantly more common in a group of aggressive children than in matched controls. Approaching genetics from a different perspective, Drs. Karine Cote and Martin Lalumiere are studying the influence of birth order on paraphilias, delinquency, and aggressiveness, among other issues, and the relevance of evolutionary, social, and immunological theories to explain these influences. Their research is based on a sample of individuals adopted at birth. Adopting an environmental perspective in a quantitative literature review, Dr. Leslie Atkinson and colleagues showed early mother-child attachment relations are consistently but moderately associated with aggression later in childhood. Research also showed that the association between parent-child relations and aggression may be strengthened by the mediating role of emotion regulation (Dr. Fiona Miller) and antisocial cognitions and attitudes (Dr. Atkinson). Dr. Beitchman and colleagues continue to collect data in a 14-year longitudinal study of children with speech/language disorder. Investigators hope to find how speech/language disorder and other risk factors influence antisocial behaviour and substance use problems in late adolescence/early adulthood.Dr. Tracy Skilling is investigating predictors of life-long antisocial behaviour. Drs. Skilling and Christine Wekerle are studying the overlap between bullying and substance use. Examining more specific forms of disorder, Dr. Sherri MacKay, Joanna Henderson and colleagues are exploring mental health and specific fire-related risk factors related to juvenile firesetting. Dr. Eva Chow is investigating impulse control disorders such as kleptomania, oniomania, pathological gambling and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Dr. Chow also pursues research in female sex offenders. Dr. Howard Barbaree is examining the effects of age at release from custody on risk for sexual recidivism in sex offenders. Intervention/Management Dr. Miller and colleagues received funding to study the effectiveness of parent skills training and child social skills programs in moderate- and high-risk communities. Dr. Skilling is studying the design and evaluation of treatment outcomes for chronic adolescent offenders. Dr. MacKay, Ms Henderson and colleagues are preparing a randomized clinical trial to evaluate a firesetting intervention for juveniles. Dr. Wekerle is conducting a survey of child welfare adolescents along four constructs: psychiatric diagnoses, risky sexual behaviours, dating violence, alcohol and drug use. Dr. Wekerle is also evaluating a dating violence prevention program included in high school curricula in several high schools across four Canadian provinces. Dr. David Nussbaum has standardized an instrument to assess fitness to stand trial. Drs. Cote and Barbaree are investigating the epidemiology and psychiatric, criminogenic, and social needs of individuals who are common clients of the mental health and the criminal justice systems in Ontario. Dr. Michael Seto completed a literature review on police and court diversion efforts, treatment needs, treatment, and community risk management for forensic patients. Dr. Barbaree, Dr. Seto, and colleagues are developing a model of risk management that incorporates actuarial risk, institutional treatment, dynamic risk factors, and community supervision in the prediction and prevention of sex offender recidivism. Knowledge Transfer Dr. Miller and colleagues received funding to study the effectiveness of evidence-based parent and child treatment programs in moderate- and high-risk communities. Ms. Henderson and colleagues conducted a province-wide study of factors affecting the acceptance and implementation of an arson prevention program for children by mental health and other community professionals. They found that implementation of "best practice" children's mental health interventions can be enhanced by targeting professionals with particular characteristics, by designing interventions to be perceived as easy-to-use and compatible with existing practice, and by using specific dissemination strategies, including enhanced educational opportunities and ongoing "expert" support. These findings indicate that the research-practice gap can be better understood through scientific examination and that intervention developers and researchers have an important role to play in closing the gap. Dr. MacKay, Ms Henderson and colleagues are preparing a clinician's manual for treating juvenile firesetting. Dr. Seto chaired a committee that produced Practice Standards and Guidelines for members of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. Dr. Wekerle edited a volume integrating literatures on child maltreatment, school bullying, teen dating violence, date rape, courtship violence, domestic violence and violence among older adults with alcohol and other drug use. The book covers state-of-the-art empirical knowledge, theoretical formulations, model clinical programs, and clinical applications. Dr. Lalumiere submitted for publication a book on juvenile delinquency.