Theory of mind and social impairment in children with conduct disorder

Abstract

Children with conduct disorder show problems in social interaction. In a quite separate diagnostic group—individuals with autism—social impairments have recently attracted a great deal of research, with the suggestion that children with autism lack a ‘theory of mind’. This hypothesis has been successful in explaining many of the social difficulties these individuals manifest, both in laboratory tests and in everyday life. The present study investigated whether the social impairments in conduct disorder might have a similar root. Standard false belief tasks and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), with additional items specially designed to assess understanding of other minds in everyday life, were used with eight normally developing children and 18 children with conduct disorder. The VABS documented extensive and widespread social impairment in this clinical group. There was also evidence of impairment in social insight, not dissimilar to that found in able individuals with autism. Children with conduct disorder were markedly different from children with autism, however, in terms of type of maladaptive activity. They showed more antisocial behaviour and very little bizarre (e.g. stereotyped, self‐stimulatory) behaviour. Implications for cognitive theories of social information processing in conduct disorder are discussed.