The fact is that these youth are not like other youngsters. Many antisocial youth have difficult temperaments from birth. Babies with difficult temperament are poor sleepers, difficult to feed and hard to toilet train. These babies require extra patience and attention. Research has shown that children with difficult temperaments who grow up in families where there have been serious difficulties, develop emotional and behavioral problems.
Many antisocial youth suffer from a variety of disabilities.
Learning disabilities, including reading disability, are common occurrences. 3 Lack of recognition of disabilities can cause serious problems to a child's progress and self image. 4 Impulsiveness is one of the symptoms of ADHD which often contributes to children getting into fights and trouble with the law. ADHD runs in families and has been linked to a genetic abnormality. Besides the above, many antisocial youth have neurological disturbances such as psychomotor epilepsy, and symptoms of psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia and manic depressive psychosis.