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We aimed to analyze the impact of several parenting factors on the relationship between psychopathy and antisocial behavior. Nine hundred youths and their mothers reported on parent–youth interactions, and youth self-report measures of psychopathy, delinquency and violent behavior were taken. Multiple regression was used to test for the significance of interactions between parenting and psychopathy scores. In terms of delinquency, linear interactions between psychopathy and the level of conflict with parents and parents' knowledge of their youths' whereabouts/youths' willingness to disclose information were found based on the data reported by the youths. Data reported by mothers indicated a linear interaction between psychopathy and parents' knowledge/youth disclosure, and a quadratic interaction of conflict with parents. For violence, we used logistic regression models to analyze moderation. No interaction effects between psychopahy scores and parenting factors were found. Youths' reports of high conflict with parents and parents' knowledge/youth disclosure showed to have an impact on violence regardless of the level of psychopathic traits. Implications for the prevention and treatment are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to examine the adolescents who cross the boundaries of legality, also including illegal political means in their political action repertoire. The data comprised of questionnaire responses from middle and late adolescents in a Swedish city of around 130,000 citizens. Analyses of covariance, EXACON, and logistic regression were used to examine the extent to which adolescents including illegal political activities in their political activity repertoire compare with their legally oriented counterparts. Adolescents using illegal political activity reported higher levels of political interest and goal-orientation than adolescents involved solely in legal political activity. The major contrasts with legal political activism were that illegal political activism seemed to co-occur with (a) reluctance to accept authority, irrespective of the context (societal, school, or parental) and (b) approval of violent political means. In a simultaneous model, further analysis revealed that reluctance to accept authority reduced the predictive power of illegal political activities with regard to approval of political violence. This suggests that the tendencies to approve of political violence, among adolescents involved in illegal political activities, might be partially explained by challenges toward authority. To conclude, adolescents in illegal political activism seem to have similar resources for political engagement as their legally oriented counterparts. However, adolescents involved in illegal political activity seem more likely to let ends justify the means. Most likely, this position is related to authority challenges.

This dissertation explains why behavioral genetic research can be better informed by using characteristics in the human iris as biomarkers for personality, and is divided into five parts. Part I gives an introduction to the classical twin method and an overview of the findings that have led most developmental researchers to recognize that the normal variation of personality depends on a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. Part II highlights empirical findings that during the last twenty years have gradually moved genetic and environmental theory and research to evolve toward one another, and also presents the theory of genetics and experience that currently is used to explain how the interplay between genes and the environment works. Part III explains why, from a developmental perspective, it is of interest to identify candidate genes for personality, and gives a brief overview of genes that have been associated with personality. Problems associated with genetic research on the molecular level and how these apply to personality are also highlighted. Part IV examines molecular research on the iris and the brain, which suggests that genes expressed in the iris could be associated with personality, and explains how the use of iris characteristics can increase power to test candidate genes for personality by taking advantage of the self-organizing properties of the nervous system. The empirical foundation for the questions posed in this dissertation and also the empirical results are presented here. Part V discusses the associations found between iris characteristics and personality, and exemplifies how iris characteristics can be used within the theoretical frameworks presented in parts I, II, III and IV. In other words, Part V explains how iris characteristics – in addition to identify as well as test candidate genes for personality – can be used to investigate how people’s experiences in themselves are influenced by genetic factors.

In this study, we examine issues related to the development of antisocial behavior, using data from three ongoing Swedish longitudinal projects. A correlational strategy is contrasted with a configurational approach. The correlational analyses reveal quite high temporal rank-order stabilities of behavioral problems, for both sexes, and also long-term statistical connections between childhood problems and adolescent and adult adjustment problems. However, these associations are of a modest size. This is to be expected in view of the operation of processes of a more temporary nature and of the timing of adjustment problems. It is argued here that a configurational approach, simultaneously taking into consideration relevant aspects of the individuals' risk panorama, offers a perspective on developmental pathways that is not provided by common multivariate approaches. Results from this more person-centered approach show the strong impact of adolescent multirisk patterns on future criminality and on drug and alcohol abuse. Findings also reveal that individual personal resources in adolescence may quite strongly reduce the risk of developing future criminality and drug and alcohol abuse for multiproblem individuals.

The relationship of various personality and behavior describing characteristics of the mother in earliest childhood (ages 1–3) and in later childhood (ages 6–8) to the child's registered criminality up to the age of 30 was investigated for a sample of 122 males. Maternal attributes were rated by psychologists and nurses. Canonical correlations, measuring the relationship between the set of maternal attributes in young age of the child and the future registered criminality of the subjects, were in the magnitudes of .40 to .50. Both in early and in later childhood, mother's mood and her perceived maturity were attributes that, controlled for socioeconomic status of the home and mother's age, were significantly related to the child's future criminal behavior. In addition, mother's affective attitude in later childhood was significantly related to registered crime among the subjects. The change in prognostic power of maternal attributes from early to later childhood was discussed.