Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Criminal Justice journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jcrimjus The early temperamental correlates of antisocial propensity Jeffrey R. Mathesius a, ⁎ , Patrick Lussier b , Raymond R. Corrado a a School of Criminology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Canada b School of Social Work and Criminology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Université Laval, Canada 1. Introduction Developmental criminological research highlights that adolescent antisocial behavior is multidimensional and typically develops in a hierarchical sequence from minor to more serious behavioral problems (e.g., LeBlanc & Fréchette, 1989; Loeber & Hay, 1997; Loeber & LeBlanc, 1990). This line of research also describes the process under- lying the continuity and discontinuity of antisocial behavior over time (e.g., Loeber & Hay, 1997; Moffitt, Caspi, Dickson, Silva, & Stanton, 1996; Nagin & Tremblay, 1999). A related theme is the continuity be- tween childhood behavioral problems and adolescent antisocial beha- vior, particularly serious and violent offending. Theoretical models (e.g., Loeber & Hay, 1997; Moffitt, 1993) specify that the behavioral problems of serious violent young offenders typically emerge in child- hood. Prospective longitudinal research further clarifies that these be- havioral problems tend to emerge by early childhood (2 yrs–3 yrs) (e.g., Broidy, Nagin, et al., 2003; Tremblay et al., 2004). Yet, only a small subgroup of children exhibits early onset and persistent behavioral problems (Broidy et al., 2003) and many children with behavioral problems in this childhood developmental stage do not present them into adolescence (e.g., Moffitt et al., 1996). Identifying the potential risk factors that likely account for the between-individual differences among behavioral problems, notably, physical aggression, within childhood and, critically, for the small subgroup whose problems per- sist into adolescence is a key task for developmental criminologists. Antisocial propensity is a central concept to understanding the onset and progression of early behavioral problems and their development into serious violent offending in adolescence. Among the various risk correlates of antisocial propensity, a common one is temperament. Temperament refers to individual differences in global socioemotional responses to the environment (e.g., Lahey & Waldman, 2003, 2005), which emerge during early childhood (e.g., Kagan & Snidman, 2004; Rothbart, Derryberry, & Posner, 1994), are hypothesized to be rela- tively stable across the life-course (e.g., Kagan & Snidman, 2004; Rothbart, Ahadi, & Evans, 2000), and have a transactional relationship with the environment affecting both the likelihood and type of anti- social behavior (e.g., Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Lahey & Waldman, 2005; Moffitt, 1993). Given these characteristics, it is not surprising that criminologists have commonly invoked child temperament as a correlate of antisocial propensity and, in turn, as a key risk factor for the development of serious violent young offending (e.g., DeLisi & Vaughn, 2014; Frick & Viding, 2009; Lynam, 1996; Moffitt, 1993). Despite the general agreement among criminologists regarding the re- levance of temperament as a marker of antisocial propensity there has been less agreement on how to best conceptualize temperament. The current study addresses two general limitations associated with the conceptualization of temperament as an early risk marker of anti- social propensity. First, criminologists have traditionally emphasized a narrow temperament concept, i.e., the definition of antisocial pro- pensity where either a single temperament construct is utilized, or a limited number of interdependent temperament dimensions are uti- lized. Arguably, this approach is inconsistent with the contemporary empirical literature which suggested that the temperamental correlates of antisocial propensity were both multidimensional and independent (e.g., DeLisi & Vaughn, 2014; Lahey & Waldman, 2005). It is proposed that these temperament conceptual limitations likely has limited its ability to account for a more complete range of antisocial behaviors. Importantly, aggregating multiple independent temperament dimen- sions into a single unitary temperament construct also has reduced the explanatory capacity of a temperament based theory of criminal tra- jectories. Second, the early childhood onset and subsequent develop- mental sequence of the temperamental components of antisocial pro- pensity have been insufficiently studied. In other words, the developmental patterns of key temperament dimensions within child- hood are relatively unknown. Developmental patterns of temperament and their risk correlates has important implications for understanding the onset and persistence of conduct problems, such as physical ag- gression, from childhood into adolescence. The current study utilizes a multidimensional conceptualization of antisocial propensity based on Lahey and Waldman's (2003, 2005) temperament based model and examines the interrelations, development, and covariates of these di- mensions across childhood (3 yrs–8 yrs), beginning in early childhood. 2. Literature review Early criminological theory conceptualized temperament as a single construct emphasizing either low self-control (e.g., Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990) or negative emotionality (e.g., Agnew, 1992, 2005; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2019.101630 Received 17 June 2019; Received in revised form 30 August 2019; Accepted 31 August 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: jeffrey_mathesius@sfu.ca, jrm9@sfu.ca (J.R. Mathesius), patrick.lussier@tsc.ulaval.ca (P. Lussier), corrado@sfu.ca (R.R. Corrado). Journal of Criminal Justice xxx (xxxx) xxxx 0047-2352/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Jeffrey R. Mathesius, Patrick Lussier and Raymond R. Corrado, Journal of Criminal Justice, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2019.101630