Temporal change in the prevalence and etiology of youth antisocial behavior

Modern conceptualizations of psychopathology, including youth antisocial behavior (ASB), implicitly assume that its prevalence and etiology are temporally stable, and thus do not vary with year of data collection. However, this assumption requires empirical testing, particularly given the well-documented decrease in crime (a key external correlate) over the last three decades. This study thus sought to illuminate the prevalence and developmental origins of youth ASB as it unfolded from 2008 through 2021. Participants consisted of 2,054 twins in 1,027 twin families (51% male, 49% female; 82% White, 10% Black, 1% Asian, 1% Indigenous, and 6% multiracial) recruited via birth records by the Michigan State University Twin Registry. Families were assessed up to six times (Mdn = 4) using an accelerated longitudinal design. We fit a series of latent growth curve models with year of data collection as the metric of time. Results pointed to a robust temporal decrease in youth ASB through 2019 followed by a modest increase during the pandemic. Subsequent biometric analyses of the variance within and among the intercept and slope factor scores indicated substantial and enduring person-specific environmental contributions to these temporal changes in ASB, as well as smaller (but also enduring) genetic influences. Such findings collectively illuminate the dynamic and time-varying nature of youth ASB over the last 15 years. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).