Antisocial Behavior: What It Means and What Helps

What antisocial behavior means

Psychologists use "antisocial" for conduct that goes against others, not for preferring to be alone. The difference matters:

If you are worried about someone who is withdrawing from others, see social withdrawal instead.

Signs of antisocial behavior

Behaviors usually fall into four groups:

• Aggression to people or animals: bullying, threatening, starting fights, using weapons, physical cruelty
• Destruction of property: vandalism, deliberate fire-setting
• Deceit or theft: frequent lying to get things or avoid obligations, shoplifting, breaking into homes or cars
• Serious rule violations: staying out all night, running away, truancy, ignoring laws

Other features often present: lack of guilt or remorse, blaming others, irritability, low frustration tolerance, impulsivity, and difficulty keeping jobs or relationships.

Antisocial behavior in children and teenagers

Some rule-breaking is normal, especially in adolescence. Many teenagers experiment with minor offenses and then stop by their early 20s. Doctors become concerned when behavior is:

• frequent, persistent (6 months or more) and present in several settings (home, school, community)
• seriously harmful, such as violence, cruelty or fire-setting
• starting before age 10 (childhood-onset), which predicts a more persistent course

Oppositional defiant disorder describes a pattern of anger, arguing and defiance toward adults, without serious harm to others. Conduct disorder involves more serious violations of others' rights. A subgroup of children show limited prosocial emotions (callous-unemotional traits): little empathy or guilt and shallow emotions. They need specialized help.

Antisocial behavior in adults

A long-term pattern starting in childhood may meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), which can only be diagnosed at age 18 or older and requires evidence of conduct disorder before age 15. ASPD affects roughly 1 to 4 in 100 adults, more often men, and is common in prisons. "Psychopathy" is a related research term for a severe form with marked lack of empathy and shallow emotion.

New antisocial behavior in an adult who was previously well is different. It suggests a medical or psychiatric cause:

• frontal lobe injury from traumatic brain injury, stroke or tumor
• frontotemporal dementia, which often begins with loss of social judgment, disinhibition and rule-breaking in a person's 50s or 60s
• mania in bipolar disorder
• alcohol or drug intoxication and dependence
• psychosis

Causes and risk factors

No single cause explains antisocial behavior. Risk builds from many factors:

• Genes and temperament: a family history, a fearless or highly impulsive temperament, low resting heart rate
• Neurodevelopment: ADHD, learning difficulties, language delays
• Family: harsh, inconsistent or neglectful parenting, family conflict, parental substance use or criminality
• Trauma: abuse, neglect and exposure to violence. See childhood trauma
• Peers and environment: deviant peer groups, school failure, poverty, neighborhood violence
• Substance use: both a cause and a consequence
• Prenatal exposures: alcohol, smoking or drugs during pregnancy

Protective factors include warm, consistent parenting, a stable adult mentor, school engagement and prosocial friends.

How it is assessed

A pediatrician, psychologist or psychiatrist will gather history from the person, family and school, and look for:

• the type, frequency and severity of behaviors, and when they started
• other conditions: ADHD, depression, anxiety, learning disorders, autism, substance use, PTSD
• safety risks: violence, weapons, self-harm
• family stresses and any abuse or neglect

Hearing, language and learning assessments are often part of the evaluation in children.

Treatment and support

Children and teenagers

• Parent training programs are the most effective treatment for children up to about age 11. Examples include Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Incredible Years and Triple P. They teach consistent praise, clear limits and calm, predictable consequences.
• Child-focused cognitive behavioral therapy builds problem-solving and anger management skills.
• Multisystemic therapy and functional family therapy for teenagers involve the family, school and community.
• Treating ADHD, which often reduces aggression.
• Medicines are not a primary treatment. They may be used for ADHD or, short-term, for severe aggression.

Adults

• Group-based cognitive and behavioral programs that address impulsivity, problem-solving and thinking patterns that lead to offending.
• Treatment for substance use, depression and anxiety.
• Structured support with work, housing and relationships.

Recovery is possible. Antisocial behavior often becomes less intense from the late 30s onward.

Frequently asked questions

What is antisocial behavior?

Antisocial behavior is repeated conduct that disregards or violates the rights of others, such as lying, stealing, aggression, bullying, vandalism and reckless law-breaking. In everyday speech antisocial can mean unsociable, but in psychology it refers to harmful behavior.

What causes antisocial behavior?

It develops from a mix of genetic and temperamental factors, ADHD and learning problems, harsh or inconsistent parenting, abuse and neglect, peer influences and substance use. In adults, sudden new antisocial behavior can result from brain injury, dementia, mania or drugs.

Is antisocial behavior a mental illness?

Not by itself. It is a behavior pattern. When it is persistent and severe, it may be part of conduct disorder in children or antisocial personality disorder in adults, which are recognized mental health conditions with effective approaches to help.

Can a child grow out of antisocial behavior?

Many do. Behavior that starts in adolescence often stops by early adulthood. Behavior that starts before age 10, is severe, or comes with callous-unemotional traits is more likely to persist and benefits most from early parent-focused treatment.

What is the difference between antisocial and asocial?

Antisocial means acting against others by harming, deceiving or breaking rules. Asocial means having little interest in social contact. A shy person who avoids parties is asocial, not antisocial.