In this sample, the most prevalent diagnostic category was AABS that included 1932 (27% of the full sample) cases, more cases than ASPD (n=1148, 16%). These data further support the findings from the NESARC that have demonstrated that AABS is a highly prevalent disorder perhaps twice as prevalent as ASPD (Compton et al., 2005; Goldstein et al., 2017). In the present study the two diagnostic groups, ASPD and AABS, were not found to differ from each other in their clinical course. These data suggest that antisocial behaviors are a continuum that follow a distinct clinical course and that the distinctions between the diagnoses primarily involve documenting that enough symptoms occurred under the age of 15. These data are also consistent with previous large epidemiological studies demonstrating that ASPD and AABS may have similar sociodemographic and psychiatric correlates and disability (Goldstein et al., 2017; Langbehn and Cadoret, 2001; Marmorstein, 2006; Tweed et al., 1994). Taken together these studies illustrate the public health significance of these disorders and suggest that further nosological research may determine that adult onset disorder warrants a clinical category in the DSM.
