Early Disruptive Behavior Research Articles

Correlates of clinic referral for early conduct problems: variable- and person-oriented approaches.

The current study utilized both variable- and person-oriented analyses to examine correlates of early disruptive behavior problems. Participants included 80 preschool boys referred to a child psychiatry clinic and diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (with or without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) and 80 case-matched normal comparison boys. The study examined four domains of correlates: vulnerable child characteristics, poor parenting practices, insecure attachment, and adverse family ecology. Results indicated that the combination of these factors provided relatively high sensitivity (81%) and specificity (85%), clearly differentiating referred from comparison boys. A dramatic increase in clinic status occurred when three or more factors were present, and specific combinations of factors were differentially predictive of conduct problems. However, no correlates were found to be either necessary or sufficient for clinic status. By maintaining the integrity of individual cases, person-oriented analyses were able to answer different questions than more traditional variable-oriented analyses. Discussion focuses on the value of person-oriented analyses for understanding heterogeneous clinical groups.

Factors associated with continuity and changes in disruptive behavior patterns between childhood and adolescence.

The relationships between disruptive behaviors in middle childhood (7 to 9 years) and conduct disorder in adolescence (14 to 16 years) were studied in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. Latent class analysis suggested strong behavioral continuity, with children showing early disruptive behaviors having odds of adolescent conduct disorder that were over 16 times higher than children who did not display early disruptive behavior. Nonetheless, in the region of 12% of children showed a discontinuous history, with 5% of children showing an early onset of conduct problems and later remission while 7% showed later onset conduct problems. Children showing discontinuous histories of behavior problems came from backgrounds in which levels of risk were intermediate between those of children who showed a persistent pattern of conduct problems and those who were consistently nonproblem children. Peer factors played an influential role in behavioral change in adolescence, with individuals showing late onset of conduct problems having high rates of affiliation with delinquent peers but those showing remission of problem behaviors in adolescence having relatively low rates of such affiliations.

Early risk factors and pathways in the development of early disruptive behavior problems

AbstractThis study examined risk factors from infancy associated with the development of preschool disruptive behavior problems across child, parent, and sociodemographic domains. Risk factors that consistently were associated with the prediction of disruptive behavior at age 5 years included disorganized attachment classification at 12 months, and maternal personality risk and child-rearing disagreements during the second year. In addition, infants with disorganized attachment status at 12 months whose mothers perceived them as difficult in the second year showed significantly higher aggressive problems at age 5 years than those with only one of the two risk factors present. When pathways leading to clinically elevated aggression at age 5 were explored, infant disorganized attachment status, maternal personality risk, and child-rearing disagreements demonstrated equivalent predictive validity as child aggression assessed at age 3 years.

Early disruptive behavior, IQ, and later school achievement and delinquent behavior

A series of structural equation model is developed to examine the relationship between early externalizing behaviors (conduct problems, attention deficit) and IQ measured at age 8 years, academic achievement over the period 10 to 13 years, and delinquent behavior to the age of 15 in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. These models indicated that early externalizing behaviors and IQ were related to later academic achievement and delinquent behavior by two quite distinct but highly correlated developmental sequences. In one sequence early conduct problems were predictive of later delinquency but were not directly related to later academic achievement. In the other sequence, attention deficit and IQ were prognostic of later school achievement but were not directly related to delinquency. Further, the apparent correlations between academic achievement and delinquency were adequately explained by the common and correlated effects of early behavior and IQ on later achievement and delinquency. These conclusions remained unchanged when the sample was stratified by gender, and when further explanatory factors were introduced into the model.

Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: Longitudinal analyses.

Three alternative models concerning the causal links between early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, and delinquent behavior or antisocial personality were tested with linear structural equation modeling. Subjects were boys and girls followed from first grade to age 14. Disruptive behavior was assessed in Grade 1; school achievement was assessed in Grades 1 and 4; delinquent behavior and antisocial personality were assessed at age 14. With regard to self-reported delinquent behavior at age 14, results indicate that the best model for boys was a direct causal link between Grade 1 disruptive behavior and delinquent behavior. Poor school achievement was not a necessary causal factor. For girls, none of the tested models were a good fit to the delinquent behavior data. As for delinquent personality, results indicate that, for both boys and girls, poor school achievement was a necessary component of the causal path between Grade 1 disruptive behavior and age 14 delinquent personality.

Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: Longitudinal analyses.

Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: Longitudinal analyses.