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Authors:   , van der Sluys Maria-Elise 
Published: November 2023

The current thesis investigated the effect of physical activity on antisocial behavior and the possible role of cognitive control in multi-problem young adults.

Earlier research uncovered a robust association between impaired cognitive control and antisocial behavior, implying individuals displaying antisocial behavior may benefit from interventions targeting neurocognitive functioning. Impaired cognitive control can severely impact one's life, as it is needed to adequately plan, regulate, and adapt goal-directed behavior. Understandably, deficiencies in these capabilities may sustain or promote antisocial behavior through the impaired ability to anticipate negative consequences, suppress unwanted impulses, and adjust behavior according to social expectations. Physical activity has been previously proposed as an effective intervention for decreasing antisocial behavior in children and adolescents (aged < 18) from the general population and in adult offenders or adults suffering from substance use disorders, yet existing research in young adults (especially clinical or at-risk young adults) is scarce and inconclusive. The observed reduction in antisocial behavior may be the result of an enhancement in neurocognitive functioning, as prior studies indicate robust positive effects on cognitive control following increased physical activity in healthy (but sedentary) youth aged <18 and the elderly. However, to date, the effect of physical activity on cognitive control has not been examined in young adults suffering from multiple problems including aggression, delinquent behavior, frequent substance use, and other externalizing behaviors despite their possible associated executive deficits.

To deepen our understanding of the relation between physical activity, antisocial behavior, and cognitive control, we first studied the possible potential of neurobiological and (neuro)behavioral measures of cognitive control in the prediction of and association with real-world behavior, i.e., behavior following a multimodal day treatment and antisocial behavior. We included three indices of neurocognitive functions, i.e., error processing, response inhibition, and interference, using different measurement techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalographic paradigms in male multi-problem young adults (aged 18 – 27). In the following chapter, we reviewed and quantified the overall effectiveness of previous physical activity interventions in reducing antisocial behavior in a meta-analytic review. Subsequently, in the next two chapters, we discussed the association between physical activity and the impact on behavioral measures of cognitive control using a randomized controlled intervention study. And lastly, we investigated other ways in which physical activity might contribute to the development of positive behavior and the decrease of negative behavior, according to the multi-problem young adults, using a thematic approach.

Our findings suggest that overall, increased physical activity may be used to treat antisocial behavior in adults displaying a range of externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, regarding cognitive control, the current results first associated a neurocognitive biomarker (ACC activity during response inhibition) with better outcomes (higher odds of engaging in daytime activities) a year after a multimodal day treatment program in populations displaying antisocial behavior, linking cognitive control to real-world positive behavior. Secondly, our data suggest enhanced neurocognitive functioning following a physical activity program in young adults with impaired cognitive control, who are suffering from multiple problems, including several forms of antisocial behavior. Taken together with prior studies, the results of the current dissertation suggest that a: physical activity interventions and programs may possibly provide an easy-to-implement treatment of antisocial behavior and b: this positive behavioral effect may be partially explained by an exercise-induced enhancement of cognitive control, although future studies including both cognitive control and antisocial behavior are needed to verify this hypothesis.