Oldenhof, Helena Catharina

English

This thesis aimed to increase the understanding of the mechanisms underlying antisocial behavior in girls. Therefore, we investigated autonomic nervous systsem functioning in a large sample of boys and girls, with and without conduct disorder. First, we assessed baseline ANS activity.,The studies in chapters 2 and 3 suggest that: baseline ANS activity is not related to CD in boys and girls, whereas reduced baseline parasympathetic activity is related specifically to internalizing problems in girls with CD, and increased RR may be a biomarker for CD in girls. Second, we assessed ANS responsivity to different challenges (emotion processing, fear anticipation, psychosocial stress), as decreased ANS responsivity has been previously found the be related to CD. In chapter 4 we observed a decrease in HR during the sad film clips. However, after controlling for covariates, HR deceleration did not differ significantly between girls and boys with and without CD and TDC. As for RSA, we observed an increased response in girls and boys with CD as compared to TDCs, suggesting aberrant parasympathetic responding during emotion processing in CD. However, findings should be interpreted cautiously since we found the aberrant parasympathetic response only during one of the two film clips, and the effect size was small. In chapter 5, we investigated ANS responsivity during fear anticipation. This study suggests a diminished threat sensitivity in CD, and supports the notion that fearlessness is one of the mechanisms underlying antisocial behavior in girls and boys. In Chapter 6 we presented the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). We found a diminished response in HR and SNS activity, and an increased response in PNS activity in girls and boys with CD as compared to TDCs. Thus, in line with previous studies, we found evidence for blunted autonomic stress-responding in CD, providing further support for fearlessness as the potential mechanism underlying antisocial behavior in youths. Furthermore, this study suggests that impaired responding to psychosocial stress characterizes CD, irrespective of sex, and its clinical phenotype

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VU Research PortalUnderstanding the psychophysiology of Antisocial Behavior in GirlsOldenhof, Helena Catharina2021document versionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordLink to publication in VU Research Portalcitation for published version (APA)Oldenhof, H. C. (2021). Understanding the psychophysiology of Antisocial Behavior in Girls. [PhD-Thesis -Research and graduation internal, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam].General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.            • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.            • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain            • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ?Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediatelyand investigate your claim.E-mail address:vuresearchportal.ub@vu.nlDownload date: 03. Mar. 2023CONTENTS Chapter 1  General introduction         9 Chapter 2 Baseline Autonomic Nervous System Activity in Female Children and   19 Adolescents with Conduct Disorder: Psychophysiological Findings from  the FemNAT-CD Study Chapter 3 Resting Autonomic Nervous System Activity is Unrelated to Antisocial   45 Behaviour Dimensions in Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Findings from A  European Multi-Centre Study Chapter 4 Psychophysiological Responses to Emotion Induction through Film Clips in  71 Girls and Boys with Conduct Disorder Chapter 5  The Psychophysiological Correlates of Anticipatory Fear in Boys and Girls  95 with Conduct Disorder Chapter 6 Investigating Sex Differences in Antisocial Behavior: A comparison of the  123 autonomic stress response in girls and boys with and without Conduct  Disorder Chapter 7 Autonomic Correlates of Affective Empathy in Girls with Conduct Disorder 143 Chapter 8 Summary and general discussion       167 Chapter 9 References         187 Chapter 10 Supplementary material       203 Appendix A         203 Appendix B         204 Appendix C         205 Appendix D         206 Chapter 11 Nederlandse samenvatting       217   Dankwoord         233   Other publications        239   Curriculum Vitae        243  

Understanding the psychophysiology of Antisocial Behavior in Girls

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Understanding the psychophysiology of Antisocial Behavior in Girls

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