Background and relevance

Early adulthood is a key stage in the development of antisocial behavior. Various studies suggest that during this developmental period, many young people desist from antisocial behavior, even if they showed an early childhood-onset, a factor that has often been associated with various negative life outcomes and continuous patterns of severe antisocial behavior. Still, a small group of youth with an early onset persists in antisocial behavior into early adulthood. Although it is evident that these developmental differences arise, up to now we do not understand well why and how they arise. One way to start answering these complex scientific questions is by studying neural functional mechanisms that are expected to differentially characterize these persistent and desistant developmental groups in early adulthood, compared to young adults who resist antisocial behavior throughout the lifespan. Understanding these mechanisms can guide development of better interventions. This is critical because persistent antisocial behavior is hard to treat and costly for individuals, victims, and society at large.

Hence, to gain a better understanding of the involved neural functional mechanisms, we reviewed the empirical literature and propose a neurocognitive social information processing model for early onset persistent and desistent antisocial behavior in early adulthood. In the review, we focused on important developmental tasks in early adulthood, such as gaining and using knowledge, skills, and self-understanding to balance between environmental constraints and one’s personal goals. Given that antisocial can be highly heterogeneous even within developmental groups, we also consider whether these neurocognitive mechanisms of interest are associated with a more dimensional measure of antisocial tendencies: psychopathic personality traits...