Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, personality characteristics and disruptive behaviour in girls

Disruptive behaviour in school, as defined by teachers, was examined in 44 unselected girls, aged 12-13 years, attending two private schools. Except for the psychoticism (P) scale of the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory (JEPI), such conduct did not appear to be related to the personality characteristics as measured by the JEPI. Autonomic nervous system activity, indexed here by heart rate measures, successfully discriminated between the three behaviourally defined groups. The findings, with data derived from girls, largely confirm earlier exploratory studies with adolescent boys, and have implications for further research and current approaches to management.