Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:1595-1600
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
High autonomic arousal and electrodermal orienting at age 15 years as protective factors against criminal behavior at age 29 years
A Raine, PH Venables and M Williams
Department of Psychology, University of York, England.
OBJECTIVE: Nothing is known about biological factors that protect a
predisposed individual from becoming criminal. This 14-year prospective
study tested the hypothesis that antisocial adolescents who desist from
crime by age 29 have greater physiological arousal and orienting than
antisocial adolescents who become adult criminals. METHOD: Physiological
arousal and orienting were measured in 101 unselected 15- year-old male
schoolchildren. Of these, 17 antisocial adolescents who desisted from adult
crime (desistors) were matched on adolescent antisocial behavior and
demographic variables with 17 antisocial adolescents who became criminal by
age 29 (criminals), and 17 nonantisocial, noncriminal normal subjects.
RESULTS: Desistors had significantly higher electrodermal and
cardiovascular arousal and higher electrodermal orienting than the criminal
group. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to report biological factors
that protect against the development of criminal behavior. The findings
suggest that individuals predisposed to adult crime by virtue of showing
antisocial behavior in adolescence may be protected from committing crime
by high levels of autonomic arousal and orienting.
