Abstract
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.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
American Psychiatric Association (1987).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev). Washington, DC: Author.
Anderson, J. C., Williams, S., McGee, R., & Silva, P. A. (1987). DSM-III disorders in preadolescent children: Prevalence in a large sample from the general population.Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 69–76.
Bird, H. R., Canino, G., Rubio-Stipec, M., Gould, M. S., Ribera, J., Sesman, M., Woodbury, M., Huertas-Goldman, S., Pagan, A., Sanchez-Lacay, A., & Moscoso, M. (1988). Estimates of the prevalence of childhood maladjustment in a community survey in Puerto Rico: The use of combined measures.Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 1120–1126.
Conners, C. K. (1969). A teacher rating scale for use in drug studies with children.American Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 884–888.
Conners, C. K. (1970). Symptom patterns in hyperkinetic, neurotic and normal children.Child Development, 41, 667–682.
Coopersmith, S. (1981).SEI—Self-Esteem Inventories. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Costello, A., Edelbrock, C., Kalas, R., Kessler, M., & Klaric, S. A. (1982).Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC). Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests.Psychometrika, 16, 297–334.
Elley, W. B., & Reid, N. A. (1969).Progressive Achievement Tests: Teacher manual: Reading Comprehension, Reading Vocabulary. Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER.
Farrington, D. P., Loeber, R., Elliott, D. S., Hawkins, J. D., Kandel, D. B., Klein, M. W., McCord, J., Rowe, D. C., & Tremblay, R. E. (1990). Advancing knowledge about the onset of delinquency and crime. In B. B. Lahey & A. E. Kazdin (Eds.).Advances in clinical child psychology, (Vol. 13, pp. 383–442). New York: Plenum Press.
Farrington, D. P., Loeber, R., & Van Kammen, W. B. (1990). Long-term criminal outcomes of hyperactivity-impulsivity-attention deficit and conduct problems in childhood. In L. N. Robins & M. Rutter (Eds.).Straight and devious pathways from childhood to adulthood. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (1993). The structure, stability and correlations of the trait components of conduct disorder, attention deficit and anxiety/withdrawal reports.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 749–766.
Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (1996). The role of adolescent peer affiliations in the continuity between childhood behavioral adjustment and juvenile offending.Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 205–221.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lawton, J. M. (1990). Vulnerability to childhood problems and family social background.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31, 1145–1160.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lloyd, M. (1991). Confirmatory factor models of attention deficit and conduct disorder.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 257–274.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. T. (1993). The prevalence and comorbidity of DSM-III-R diagnoses in a birth cohort of 15 year olds.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 1127–1134.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. T. (1994a). The comorbidities of adolescent problem behaviors: A latent class model.Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 22, 339–354.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. T. (1994b). The structure of DSM-III-R criteria for disruptive childhood behaviors.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 1145–1155.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. T. (1994c). The childhoods of multiple problem adolescents: A 15 year longitudinal study.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 1123–1140.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. T. (1995). The stability of disruptive childhood behaviors.Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23 379–396.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., Shannon, F. T., & Lawton, J. M. (1989). The Christchurch Child Development Study: A review of epidemiological findings.Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 3, 278–301.
Gilmore, A., Croft, C., & Reid, N. (1981).Burt Word Reading Test: New Zealand revision. Teachers manual. Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER.
Kashani, J. H., Beck, N. C., Hoeper, E. W., Fallahi, C., Corcoran, C. M., McAllister, J. A., Rosenberg, T. K., & Reid, J. C. (1987). Psychiatric disorders in a community sample of adolescents.American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 584–589.
Loeber, R. (1988). Natural histories of conduct problems, delinquency and associated substance use. In B. B. Lahey & A. E. Kazdin (Eds.),Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 11, pp. 73–124). New York: Plenum Press.
Loeber, R. (1990). Development and risk factors of juvenile antisocial behavior and delinquencyClinical Psychology Review, 10, 1–41.
Loeber, R. (1991). Antisocial behavior: more enduring than changeable?Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 383–397.
McGee, R., Feehan, M., Williams, S., Partridge, F., Silva, P. A., & Kelly, J. (1990). DSM-III disorders in a large sample of adolescents.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 611–619.
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence—limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy.Psychological Review, 100, 674–701.
Moffitt, T. E., & Silva, P. A. (1988). Self-reported delinquency: Results from an instrument for New Zealand.Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 21, 227–240.
Olweus, D. (1979). Stability of aggressive reaction patterns in males: A review.Psychological Bulletin, 86, 852–857
Patterson, G. R. (1993). Orderly change in a stable world: The antisocial trait as a chimera.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 911–919.
Patterson, G. R. (1994 November).Differentiating early-from-late-onset delinquency.. Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology Conference, Miami.
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior.American Psychologist, 44, 329–335.
Quay, H. C., & Peterson, D. R. (1987).Manual for the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. Miami: Authors.
Quinton, D., Pickles, A., Maughan, B., & Rutter, M. (1993). Partners, peers and pathways: Assortative pairing and continuities in conduct disorder.Development and Psychopathology, 5, 763–783.
Rutter, M., & Giller, H. (1983).Juvenile delinquency: trends and perspectives. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin.
Rutter, M., Tizard, J., & Whitmore, K. (1970).Education, health and behavior. London: Longmans.
Wechsler, D. (1974).Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
Zoccolillo, M., Pickles, A., Quinton, D., & Rutter, M. (1992). The outcome of childhood conduct disorder: Implications for defining adult personality disorder and conduct disorder.Psychological Medicine, 22, 971–986.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was funded by grants from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the National Child Health Research Foundation, and the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fergusson, D.M., Lynskey, M.T. & Horwood, L.J. Factors associated with continuity and changes in disruptive behavior patterns between childhood and adolescence. J Abnorm Child Psychol 24, 533–553 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01670099
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01670099