title: Response to emotional stimuli in boys with conduct disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Boys with conduct disorder are at risk of persistently showing antisocial behavior in adult life, particularly if they have an additional diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the search for biological risk factors that predispose children to the development of antisocial personality disorder, research has provided substantial data suggesting that autonomic hyporesponsiveness indicates a greater likelihood of future antisocial behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine autonomic arousal in boys with conduct disorder, comorbid conduct disorder and ADHD, and ADHD only.
  
  
  METHODS
  In addition to self-ratings, electrodermal responses to pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant slides were obtained for 21 boys with conduct disorder and 54 boys with ADHD plus conduct disorder. Forty-three boys with a diagnosis of ADHD only were recruited as a clinical comparison group, and 43 boys with no conduct disorder or ADHD were included as a healthy comparison group. All subjects were ages 8-13 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to the healthy subjects and the subjects with ADHD only, the boys with conduct disorder and with ADHD plus conduct disorder reported lower levels of emotional response to aversive stimuli and lower autonomic responses to all slides independent of valence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the self-report data supported a deficit in reactivity to explicit fear cues, the psychophysiological data indicated that boys with conduct disorder both with and without a comorbid condition of ADHD are characterized by a generalized deficit in autonomic responsivity in an experimental situation in which children were exposed to complex visual stimuli of unpredictable affective quality. Psychophysiological findings may point to a deficit in associative information processing systems that normally produce adaptive cognitive-emotional reactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Rostock University, Gehlsheimer Str. 20, D-18147 Rostock, Germany. sabine.herpertz@med.uni-rostock.de
authors.forename: Sabine C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Herpertz
authors.forename: Bodo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Mutaz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qunaibi
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lichterfeld
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konrad
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Herpertz-Dahlmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*