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The present study examined empathy deficits in toddlerhood (age 14 to 36 months) as predictors of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) symptoms and psychopathy measured by the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy scale (Levenson, Kiehl, & Fitzpatrick, 1995) in adulthood (age 23 years) in 956 individuals from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study. Consistent with the hypothesis that antisocial behavior is associated with “active” rather than “passive” empathy deficits, early disregard for others, not lack of concern for others, predicted later ASPD symptoms. Early disregard for others was also significantly associated with factor 1 of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, which includes items assessing interpersonal and affective deficits, but not with factor 2, which includes items assessing impulsivity and poor behavioral control. The association between early disregard for others and psychopathy factor 2 was near zero after controlling for the shared variance between psychopathy factors 1 and 2. These results suggest that there is a propensity toward adulthood ASPD symptoms and psychopathy factor 1 that can be assessed early in development, which may help identify individuals most at risk for stable antisocial outcomes.

Background Studies have shown a correlation between language abilities and alcohol use; however, results are inconsistent. A recent study using a discordant twin design showed an association between early child language development and later alcohol use behaviors; i.e., the twin with more advanced language abilities was more likely to try alcohol earlier in adolescence (Latvala et al., 2014). The authors suggested that this could result from better socialization of individuals with greater language abilities, which could lead to more opportunities for alcohol experimentation. The findings by Latvala et al. raise interesting questions, but the study has limitations, and replication is needed. Method We aimed to replicate and build upon these results utilizing 488 same sex twin pairs from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study, a longitudinal sample with quantitative measures of language abilities starting when the twins were 14 months old. Results We found no significant correlations between a latent measure of child language abilities or measures of general cognitive ability at ages 14, 20, and 24 months and a latent alcohol use variable at ages 17 and 22 years. Conclusion Our results did not replicate the association between early language ability and later alcohol use reported by Latvala et al. Possible reasons for differing results across samples, including varying cultural norms as well as differences in educational attainment, peer influences, and novelty seeking, were discussed.

Adolescents with conduct and substance use problems are at increased risk for premature mortality, but the extent to which these risk factors reflect family- or individual-level differences and account for shared or unique variance is unknown. This study examined common and independent contributions to mortality hazard in adolescents ascertained for conduct disorder (CD) and substance use disorder (SUD), their siblings and community controls, hypothesizing that individual differences in CD and SUD severity would explain unique variation in mortality risk beyond that due to clinical/control status and demographic factors.Mortality analysis in a prospective study (Genetics of Antisocial Drug Dependence Study) that began in 1993.Multi-site sample recruited in San Diego, California and Denver, Colorado, USA.A total of 1463 clinical probands were recruited through the juvenile correctional system, court-mandated substance abuse treatment programs and correctional schools, along with 1399 of their siblings, and 904 controls.Mortality and cause-of-death were assessed via National Death Index search (released October, 2017).There were 104 deaths documented among 3766 (1168 female) adolescents and young adults (average age 16.79 years at assessment, 32.69 years at death/censoring). Mortality hazard for clinical probands and their siblings was 4.99 times greater than that of controls (95% confidence interval = 2.40-10.40; P 0.001). After accounting for demographic characteristics, site, clinical status, familial dependence and shared contributions of CD and SUD, CD independently predicted mortality hazard, whereas SUD severity did not.In the United States, youth with conduct and substance use disorders and their siblings face far greater risk of premature death than demographically similar community controls. In contrast to substance use disorder severity, conduct disorder is a robust predictor of unique variance in all-cause mortality hazard beyond other risk factors.

The present study examined the influence of maternal and child characteristics on parenting behaviors in a genetically informative study. The participants were 976 twins and their mothers from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study and the Twin Infant Project. Indicators of positive parenting were coded during parent–child interactions when twins were 7–36 months old. Child cognitive abilities and affection were independent correlates of positive parenting. There were significant gender differences in the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on positive parenting, with shared environmental influences on parenting of girls and additive genetic influences on parenting of boys. Girls received significantly more positive parenting than boys. Differences in etiology of positive parenting may be explained by developmental gender differences in child cognitive abilities and affection, such that girls may have more rewarding interactions with parents, evoking more positive parenting.