Preventing Disorders of Aggression

63% of violence is committed by 1% of the population. Their violence is predictable and therefore preventable, agrees @DavidMuhammad of @NICJR01. SPDA is working to prevent it.

People who are more sensitive to outcomes for others learn to make more prosocial choices/fewer antisocial choices. But as psychopathy increases, other-relevant learning rates decrease, suggesting a computational phenotype underlying the acquisition of antisocial behaviors.

New neurocomputational learning paper out by @shawnrhoadsphd @thepsychologist @BerlutiKathryn and others in @NatureComms. The central question is: how do people learn from information that their behavior has resulted in benefits/harm to themselves AND someone else?

Differences in self-control are present in early childhood and can predict multiple indicators of health, wealth, and crime across 3 decades of life in both genders. Children's self-control predicts their adult outcomes as well as IQ or social class. pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

@Oliver_S_Curry @sciam This is a great review, although of prisoners, not people with psychopathy, and they do find rehabilitation to be effective on average. No recent work yields the conclusions that disorders of aggression are "untreatable", although we 100% need more research and better treatments.

@PsychopathyIs @sciam Ok, but see: x.com/Oliver_S_Curry…

The trope that psychopathy is somehow uniquely untreatable needs to be put to bed for good. Of course it can be treated. We just need to get serious about trying. This excellent @sciam article reviews some of the challenges involved. scientificamerican.com/article/is-it-…

@Oliver_S_Curry @sciam This is an important study--thanks for linking it. The effects for primary CU traits in kids was great to see. The overall literature suggests we should be optimistic about treatment outcomes for psychopathy. doi.org/10.1016/S0272-…

@PsychopathyIs @sciam pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37552366/

A group parenting intervention results in reduced antisocial behavior in children that corresponds with normalized brain activation patterns and reinforcement learning parameters. Changes in parenting style targeted by the intervention correlated with some of these changes.

The best treatments for children's disruptive behavior (ADHD, ODD, CD) require parents to work directly with a therapist to learn effective behavior management techniques. New research suggests this therapy can be effectively delivered via mobile phone. link.springer.com/article/10.100…

New study using smartphone sensor variables to predict psychopathology finds that antagonism is associated with a later bedtime, fewer and shorter outgoing calls, less battery charge, and more screen unlocks. @JAMA_current jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman…

Using the term "dark" to refer to traits of psychological disorders like psychopathy and narcissism is stigmatizing and wildly inappropriate for professional psychologists, argue David Chester, Donald Lynam, and Josh Miller. It should stop. news.vcu.edu/article/2025/0…

Better efforts to identify and treat child psychopathy are a matter of life and death. New research founds that among teens in detention, those with high psychopathy scores were less likely to survive over the next 10-14 years. psypost.org/youth-with-psy…

New review finds clinicians experience a range of challenging emotions when working with patients with psychopathy or ASPD, which may help explain why people with these disorders face unusual barriers to treatment (leading to myths they are "untreatable"). frontiersin.org/journals/psych…

The tendency to lie is a trait that is consistent across time and settings. If you know someone who lies to other people... they are probably lying to you as well. Another great paper by @IsabelThielmann and colleagues. psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-70…

Extensive evidence now supports psychopathy as a neurodevelopmental disorder, with reliable markers of adult psychopathy detectable as early as age 3--which is when screening for risk factors should start. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17696707/

The Emotion Health and Psychophysiology lab at Yale University is hiring a lab manager. Applicants should have a BA/BS in psychology or related field. Please send CV/resume and cover letter to wendyberry.mendes@yale.edu

Summer jobs programs don’t help future youth employment, but they DO reduce violence. Learn why--and about why repeated evaluations can create an evidence base that is more convincing, illuminating, and practical than any single study can be. @ssrc_org events.zoom.us/ev/AjXT6gXbBFg…

Improving your relationship with your child doesn't have to be complicated. Here are 5 simple ways to strengthen your relationship using PCIT skills. For more information on PCIT visit: parentchildinteractiontherapy.com

This M/W, @theNASciences is sponsoring on online workshop on the neurobiology of empathy and compassion, including disorders like psychopathy. Register to attend (for free) and hear from @PatricGagne @thepsychologist @clauslamm @richiedavidson and more! nationalacademies.org/event/44350_05…

Thank you to the @ClevelandClinic for this clarifying passage on the term "sociopath." health.clevelandclinic.org/sociopath-pers…

It’s interesting to think about how children’s behavior can shape parenting responses. This highlights the need for tailored interventions for parents, especially those with children at high genetic risk for ADHD. Have any studies explored how early interventions could help mitigate these effects and support more consistent discipline from the start?