A new British study has found that teenagers with ‘conduct disorder’—a psychiatric condition characterized by aggression and antisocial behavior—may not be doing it to keep up with the ill-behaved Joneses. The Daily Mail reported that scientists detected brain abnormalities in teens with conduct disorder: teens were showed either angry, sad or neutral faces, and the brains of those without the illness showed activity in the part of the brain that deals with emotion. But those with conduct disorder showed little activity in that area of their brains.

Until now, teens with CD were generally thought to be copying the bad behavior of peers, or that their parents were irresponsibly parenting. But Professor Ian Goodyer, who co-authored the paper, said this study could change that perception. “This work breaks new ground in our understanding of the neurobiology of one of the most prevalent and difficult mental health problems in our society,” he said. It is certainly an epidemic, as five in every 100 UK teenagers has the disorder.