Treating antisocial behavior: a context for substance abuse prevention

A large body of literature illustrates an association between antisocial behavior and substance abuse. In the present paper, this association is reviewed from a behavioral-economic standpoint. It is suggested that childhood antisocial behavior is a behavioral complement of substance abuse, and that prosocial behavior is a substitute for substance abuse. Based on this formulation, efforts to reduce or prevent antisocial behavior may be conceptualized as prevention programs for substance abuse. Four empirically supported approaches for the treatment of antisocial behavior are reviewed with respect to their promise for preventing and treating substance abuse. Taken together, they suggest that successful interventions for substance abuse may occur at various points over the course of development, beginning in infancy and extending into adolescence.