Ethnic Differences in Conduct Disorders, Antisocial and Prosocial Behavior among 11 Year Olds in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Data are presented from a representative, ethnically diverse sample of 7258 11-year-old children for measures of internalizing and externalizing behavior disorders and prosocial behavior assessed by teachers in the United Kingdom. The results show that compared with whites, black children had higher scores of externalizing behavior disorders, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had about the same scores, and Chinese, Indians and Other Asians had lower scores. For prosocial behavior, the pattern was reversed. For internalizing behavior disorders, Chinese, Indians and Other Asians had lower scores than whites. These results provide some confirmation for the theory advanced in Lynn (2002) based on studies in the United States that conduct disorders and psychopathic personality/antisocial personality disorders are higher in blacks and lower in Northeast Asians than in whites, and extends the theory further with evidence indicating that the prevalence of these disorders in South Asians is intermediate between Northeast Asians and whites