L. Arseneault et al., Minor physical anomalies and family adversity as risk factors for violent delinquency in adolescence, AM J PSYCHI, 157(6), 2000, pp. 917-923
Objective: Minor physical anomalies are considered indicators of disruption
in fetal development. They have been found to predict behavioral problems
and psychiatric disorders. This study examined the extent to which minor ph
ysical anomalies, family adversity, and their interaction predict violent a
nd nonviolent delinquency in adolescence.
Method: Minor physical anomalies were assessed in a group of 170 adolescent
boys from low socioeconomic status neighborhoods of Montreal. The boys had
been enrolled in a longitudinal study since their kindergarten year, when
an assessment of family adversity had been made on the basis of familial st
atus and the parents' occupational prestige, age at the birth of the first
child, and educational level. Adolescent delinquency was measured by using
self-reported questionnaires and a search of official crime records.
Results: Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that both the
total count of minor physical anomalies and the total count of minor physic
al anomalies of the mouth were significantly associated with an increased r
isk of violent delinquency in adolescence, beyond the effects of childhood
physical aggression and family adversity. Similar findings were not found f
or nonviolent delinquency. Conclusions: Children with a higher count of min
or physical anomalies, and especially a higher count of anomalies of the mo
uth, could be more difficult to socialize for different and additive reason
s: they may have neurological deficits, and they may have feeding problems
in the first months after birth. Longitudinal studies of infants with minor
physical anomalies of the mouth are needed to understand the process by wh
ich they fail to learn to inhibit physical aggression.