Yirmiya, Karen;
Constantinou, Matthew;
Simes, Elizabeth;
Bateman, Anthony;
Wason, James;
Yakeley, Jessica;
McMurran, Mary;
... Fonagy, Peter; + view all
(2024)
The mediating role of reflective functioning and general psychopathology in the relationship between childhood conduct disorder and adult aggression among offenders.
Psychological Medicine
10.1017/S003329172400062X.
(In press).
Preview |
Text
Fonagy_the-mediating-role-of-reflective-functioning-and-general-psychopathology-in-the-relationship-between-childhood-conduct-disorder-and-adult-aggression-among-off.pdf Download (214kB) | Preview |
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The nature of the pathway from conduct disorder (CD) in adolescence to antisocial behavior in adulthood has been debated and the role of certain mediators remains unclear. One perspective is that CD forms part of a general psychopathology dimension, playing a central role in the developmental trajectory. Impairment in reflective functioning (RF), i.e., the capacity to understand one's own and others' mental states, may relate to CD, psychopathology, and aggression. Here, we characterized the structure of psychopathology in adult male-offenders and its role, along with RF, in mediating the relationship between CD in their adolescence and current aggression. METHODS: A secondary analysis of pre-treatment data from 313 probation-supervised offenders was conducted, and measures of CD symptoms, general and specific psychopathology factors, RF, and aggression were evaluated through clinical interviews and questionnaires. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a bifactor model best fitted the sample's psychopathology structure, including a general psychopathology factor (p factor) and five specific factors: internalizing, disinhibition, detachment, antagonism, and psychoticism. The structure of RF was fitted to the data using a one-factor model. According to our mediation model, CD significantly predicted the p factor, which was positively linked to RF impairments, resulting in increased aggression. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the critical role of a transdiagnostic approach provided by RF and general psychopathology in explaining the link between CD and aggression. Furthermore, they underscore the potential utility of treatments focusing on RF, such as mentalization-based treatment, in mitigating aggression in offenders with diverse psychopathologies.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The mediating role of reflective functioning and general psychopathology in the relationship between childhood conduct disorder and adult aggression among offenders |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1017/S003329172400062X |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S003329172400062X |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Aggression; antisocial personality disorder; conduct disorder; general psychopathology factor; MOAM; offenders; probation; reflective functioning |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10188071 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
