ORIGINS OF ANTISOCIAL-BEHAVIOR - NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT AND AFFECT DYSREGULATION OF BEHAVIOR AS SOCIALIZATION MECHANISMS IN FAMILY-INTERACTION

Theoretical models specifying the contribution of two social-familial mechanisms, negative reinforcement and affect dysregulation, to the de velopment of child antisocial behavior were tested using a sample of 5 7 8- to 13-year-old boys referred for treatment of conduct problems. N egative reinforcement of boys' aggressive behavior and boys' affect dy sregulation were found to covary with the boys' irritability toward pa rents and siblings and were reliable predictors of a composite measure of child antisocial behavior, defined by out-of-home placement, arres ts, and school discipline incidents 2 years later. Reinforcement of ag gression and affect dysregulation during family interaction may play c omplementary roles in the development of antisocial behavior by foster ing the use of coercive means of dealing with social conflict The find ings are discussed in terms of research strategies for identifying soc ial mechanisms contributing to child psychopathology and of implicatio ns for modification of current family interventions targeting child an tisocial behavior.