The British Journal of Psychiatry 136: 139-145 (1980)
© 1980 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Brothers, sisters and antisocial behaviour
MB Jones, DR Offord and N Abrams
The brothers of 73 delinquent boys were found themselves to be more
antisocial than the brothers of 73 matched control boys. Further, the
average antisocial score of the probands' brothers increased with the
number of brothers in the family, holding the number of sisters constant,
and decreased with the number of sisters, holding the number of brothers
constant. These results are interpreted in terms of male potentiation and
female suppression of antisocial behaviour in boys. Results are also
reported for 59 pairs of matched delinquent and control girls and their
siblings.