Pa. Brennan et al., PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL PROTECTIVE FACTORS FOR MALE-SUBJECTS AT HIGH-RISKFOR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, The American journal of psychiatry, 154(6), 1997, pp. 853-855
Objective: This study examines the role of elevated autonomic nervous
system reactivity in protecting individuals at high risk for criminal
behavior from antisocial outcomes. The authors hypothesized that subje
cts with criminal fathers who did not become criminals themselves were
biologically protected from such an outcome because of, in part, heig
htened responsiveness of the autonomic nervous system. Method: Ninety-
four male subjects were placed into one of foul. study groups: crimina
l with criminal father (N=26), noncriminal with criminal father (N=24)
, criminal with noncriminal father (N=20), and noncriminal with noncri
minal father (N=24). Skin conductance and heart rate data were gather
in an orienting paradigm. Results: Skin conductance and heart rate ori
enting reactivity were found to be significantly higher in the group o
f noncriminal subjects with criminal fathers than in the other three g
roups. Conclusions. For subjects at high risk for criminal behavior, h
eightened autonomic nervous system responsiveness appears to be associ
ated with lower likelihood of criminal outcome.