Publications
Antisocial Behaviour
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Assortative mating for antisocial behavior: Developmental and methodological implications | 1998
Krueger, R.F., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi,
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Behavior Genetics, 1998, 28(28), 173-186.
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Our ref: RO323
Do people mate assortatively for antisocial behavior? If so, what are the implications for the development and persistence of antisocial behavior? We investigated assortative mating for antisocial behavior and its correlates in a sample of 360 couples from Dunedin, New Zealand. We found substantial assortative mating for self-reports of antisocial behavior per se and for self-reports of couple members' tendencies to associate with antisocial peers (0.54 on average). Perceptions about the likelihood of social sanctions for antisocial behavior (e.g., being caught by the authorities or losing the respect of one's family) showed moderate assortative mating (0.32 on average). However, assortative mating for personality traits related to antisocial behavior was low (0.15 on average). These findings suggest that, whereas assortative mating for many individual-difference variables (such as personality traits) is low, assortative mating for actual antisocial behaviors is substantial. We conclude that future family studies of antisocial behavior should endeavor to measure and understand the influence of assortative mating. In addition, we outline a testable behavior-genetic model for the development of antisocial behavior, in which genes and environments promoting or discouraging antisocial behavior become concentrated within families (due to assortative mating), giving rise to widely varying individual developmental trajectories that are, nevertheless, similar within families.
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Factors associated with doubled-up housing - a common precursor to homelessness | 1998
Wright, B.R., Caspi, A., Moffitt,
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Social Service Review, 1998, 72(72), 92-111.
Our ref: RO317
Previous research on housing problems has concentrated on the more visible homelessness rather than more intermediate forms of housing problems such as doubled-up housing. This article expands this research by analyzing entrance into doubled-up housing among a sample of adolescents. This common type of vulnerable housing has been linked to various social and psychological problems. It commonly precedes homelessness, and it potentially increases the risk of homelessness. We find that doubled-up housing frequently occurs during young adulthood and is predicted by insufficient human capital, broken social ties, and personal disabilities.
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Early failure in the labor market: Childhood and adolescent predictors of unemployment in the transition to adulthood | 1998
Caspi, A., Wright, B.R., Moffitt,
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American Sociological Review, 1998, 63(63), 424-451.
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Our ref: RO316
We investigate the childhood and adolescent predictors of youth unemployment in a longitudinal study of young adults who have been studied for the 21 years since their births in 1972-1973. We test hypotheses about the predictors of youth unemployment using information about each individual's human capital, social capital, and personal capital. In the human capital domain, lack of high-school qualifications, poor reading skills, low IQ scores, and limited parental resources significantly increased the risk of unemployment. In the social capital domain, growing up in a single-parent family, family conflict, and lack of attachment to school also increased the risk of unemployment. In the personal capital domain, children involved in antisocial behavior had an increased risk of unemployment. These predictors of unemployment reached back to early childhood suggesting that they began to shape labor-marker outcomes years before these youths entered the work force. In addition, these effects remained significant after controlling for the duration of education and educational attainment, suggesting that many early personal and family characteristics affect labor-market outcomes, not only because they restrict the accumulation of human capital (e.g., education), but also because they directly affect labor-market behaviors. Failure to account for prior social, psychological, and economic risk factors may lead to inflated estimates of the effects of unemployment on future outcomes.
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Comorbidity between abuse of an adult and DSM-III-R mental disorders: Evidence from an epidemiological Study | 1998
Danielson, K.K., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi,
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American Journal of Psychiatry, 1998, 155(155), 131-133.
Our ref: RO315
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to report the prevalence, risk, and implications of comorbidity between partner violence and psychiatric disorders. METHOD: Data were obtained from a representative birth cohort of 941 young adults through use of the Conflict Tactics Scales and Diagnostic Interview Schedule. RESULTS: Half of those involved in partner violence had a psychiatric disorder; one-third of those with a psychiatric disorder were involved in partner violence. Individuals involved in severe partner violence had elevated rates of a wide spectrum of disorders. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the importance of mental health clinicians screening for partner violence and treating victims and perpetrators before injury occurs.
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Hitting without a license: testing explanations for differences in partner abuse between young adult daters and cohabiters | 1998
Magdol, L., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi,
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Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1998, 60(60), 41-55.
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Our ref: RO313
We compared partner abuse by cohabiters and daters among 21-year-olds. Cohabiters were significantly more likely than daters to perform abusive behaviors. We identified factors that differentiate cohabitors from daters and tested whether these factors explained the difference in partner abuse. As controls in regression models predicting abuse, none of these factors individually explained the difference in partner abuse between cohabiters and daters. With all factors added to the model simultaneously, the effect of cohabitation remained significant, but was substantially reduced. These findings have intervention implications because premarital cohabitation is a risk factor for abuse after marriage.
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Prevalence and correlates of cannabis use and dependence among young New Zealanders | 1997
Poulton, R., Brooke, M., Moffitt,
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New Zealand Medical Journal, 1997, 110(110), 68-70.
Our ref: NZ71
Aims. To determine change in patterns of cannabis use in New Zealand in an unselected birth cohort and investigate the relationship between level of cannabis use, violent behaviour and employment history. Method. Prospective longitudinal design using members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study at ages 15, 18 and 21 years. Results. Rates of cannabis use increased from 15% (n = 144) at age 15 years to more than half of the sample seen at age 21 years (n = 497; 52.4%). DSM-III-R defined cannabis dependence assessed at age 18 and 21 years increased from 6.6% (n = 61) to 9.6% (n = 91). Males were more likely to use and be dependent on cannabis than females. Early use substantially increased the risk for the development of cannabis dependence in young adulthood. Cross-sectional analysis at age 21 found levels of cannabis use and dependence to be higher among the unemployed and those with a history of violent behaviour. Conclusions. Prevalence rates of cannabis use in young New Zealanders were found to be higher than previously reported. A history of unemployment or of violent behaviour was associated with more frequent cannabis use at age 21. Males were more likely than females to use cannabis frequently and to meet DSM-III-R criteria for dependence at age 21. It is suggested that drug education campaigns should specifically target young males.
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Is age important? Testing general versus developmental theories of antisocial behavior | 1997
Jeglum Bartusch, D.R., Lynam, D.R., Moffitt,
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Criminology, 1997, 35(35), 13-47.
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Our ref: RO295
We tested competing hypotheses derived from Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory and Moffitt's (1993a) developmental theory of antisocial behavior. The developmental theory argues that different factors give rise to antisocial behavior at different points in the life course. In contrast the general theory maintains that the factor underlying antisocial behavior (i.e., criminal propensity) is the same at all ages. To test these competing predictions, we used longitudinal data spanning from age 5 to age 18 for the male subjects in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Using reports from three sources (parents, teachers, and the boys themselves), we estimated second-order confirmatory factor models of antisocial behavior. These models provided consistent support for the developmental theory, showing that separate latent factors underlie childhood and adolescent antisocial behavior Moreover, we found that these childhood and adolescent factors related in ways predicted by Moffitt's developmental theory to four correlates of antisocial behavior: Childhood antisocial behavior was related more strongly than adolescent antisocial behavior to low verbal ability, hyperactivity, and negative/impulsive personality, whereas adolescent antisocial behavior was related more strongly than childhood antisocial behavior to peer delinquency. The two underlying latent factors also showed the predicted differential relations to later criminal convictions: Childhood antisocial behavior was significantly more strongly associated with convictions for violence, while adolescent antisocial behavior was significantly more strongly associated with convictions for nonviolent offenses.
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Measuring children's antisocial behaviors [Editorial] | 1996
Moffitt, T.E.
JAMA, 1996, 275(275), 403-404.
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Our ref: RO287
This editorial questions the accuracy of Needleman et al's measures of children's antisocial behavior in their study of the association of bone lead and young boys' attention problems, aggression and delinquency.
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Behavioral distinctions between children identified with reading disabilities and/or ADHD | 1996
Pisecco, S., Baker, D.B., Silva,
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Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1996, 35(35), 1477-1484.
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Our ref: RO286
Objective: To investigate behavioral distinctions between children with reading disabilities (RD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: A four-group mixed design consisting of children with reading disabilities only (RD only), reading disabilities and ADHD (RD/ADHD), ADHD only, and a comparison group was used. Differences between parent reports, from age 5 to 15 years, and teacher reports, from age 5 to 13 years, were examined on measures of hyperactive and antisocial behaviors. Results: The analyses indicated that, at home, children from the ADHD only and RD/ADHD groups exhibited significantly more hyperactive behaviors than children from the RD only and comparison groups. At school, children from the RD only, ADHD only, and RD/ADHD groups typically exhibited significantly more hyperactive and antisocial behaviors than children from the comparison group. With regard to antisocial behaviors, children from the RD/ADHD group exhibited significantly more antisocial behaviors than children from any other group. Conclusions: The results of the study indicate that children from these groups may exhibit either a ''pervasive'' or ''situational'' presentation of behavioral problems, a finding which suggests that in conducting an evaluation of ADHD it is important to obtain both parent and teacher reports of problem behaviors.
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Behavioral observations at age 3 predict adult psychiatric disorders: longitudinal evidence from a birth cohort | 1996
Caspi, A., Moffitt, T.E., Newman,
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Archives of General Psychiatry, 1996, 53(53), 1033-1039.
Our ref: RO282
Background: This study provides, to our knowledge, the first empirical test of whether behavioral differences among children in the first 3 years of life are linked to specific adult psychiatric disorders: anxiety and mood disorders, antisocial personality disorder, recidivistic and violent crime, alcoholism, and suicidal behavior. Methods: In a longitudinal-epidemiological study, 3-year-old children were classified into groups based on examiner observations of their behavior. At age 21 years, they were reassessed for psychopathologic functioning using standardized interviews based on DSM-III-R criteria. Results: Although effect sizes were small, undercontrolled (includes children who are impulsive, restless, and distractible) and inhibited (includes children who are shy, fearful, and easily upset) children differed significantly from comparison children in young adulthood. Under-controlled 3-year-olds were more likely at 21 years to meet diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder and to be involved in crime. Inhibited 3-year-olds were more likely at 21 years to meet diagnostic criteria for depression. Both groups were more likely to attempt suicide, and boys in both groups had alcohol-related problems. Controls for family social class did not change the findings. Conclusion: Some forms of adult psychopathologic abnormality are meaningfully linked, albeit weakly, to behavioral differences observed among children in the third year of life.
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Adult mental health and social outcomes of adolescent girls with depression and conduct disorder | 1996
Bardone, A.M., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi,
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Development and Psychopathology, 1996, 8(8), 811-829.
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Our ref: RO281
Follow-up studies of adolescent depression and conduct disorder have pointed to homotypic continuity, but less information exists about outcomes beyond mental disorders and about the extent to which adolescents with different disorders experience different versus similar difficulties during the transition to adulthood. We assessed the continuity of adolescent disorder by following girls in a complete birth cohort who at age 15 were depressed (n = 27), conduct disordered (n = 37), or without a mental health disorder (n = 341) into young adulthood (age 21) to identify their outcomes in three domains: mental health and illegal behavior, human capital, and relationship and family formation. We found homotypic continuity; in general, depressed girls became depressed women and conduct disordered girls developed antisocial personality disorder symptoms by age 21. Conduct disorder exclusively predicted at age 21: antisocial personality disorder, substance dependence, illegal behavior, dependence on multiple welfare sources, early home leaving, multiple cohabitation partners, and physical partner violence. Depression exclusively predicted depression at age 21. Examples of equifinality (where alternate pathways lead to the same outcome) surfaced, as both adolescent disorders predicted at age 21: anxiety disorder, multiple drug use, early school leaving, low school attainment, any cohabitation, pregnancy, and early child bearing.
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Childhood-onset versus adolescence-onset antisocial conduct in males: Natural history from age 3 to 18 | 1996
Moffitt, T.E., Caspi, A., Dickson,
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Development and Psychopathology, 1996, 8(8), 399-424.
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Our ref: RO274
We report data that support the distinction between childhood-onset and adolescent-onset type conduct problems. Natural histories are described from a representative birth cohort of 457 males studied longitudinally from age 3 to 18 years. Childhood- and adolescent-onset cases differed on temperament as early as age 3 years, but almost half of childhood-onset cases did not become seriously delinquent. Type comparisons were consistent with our contention that males whose antisocial behavior follows a life-course-persistent path differ from males who follow an adolescence-limited path. As adolescents, the two types differed on convictions for violent crime, personality profiles, school leaving, and bonds to family. These differences can be attributed to developmental history because the two groups were well matched on measures of antisocial conduct at age 18 years: parent-reports, self-reports, and adjudication records. By age 18 years, many conduct-problem boys had encountered factors that could ensnare them in an antisocial future: substance dependence, unsafe sex, dangerous driving habits, delinquent friends, delinquent perceptions, and unemployment. Implications for theory, research design, prevention, and therapeutic treatment of conduct problems are highlighted. [Abstracted in Youth Update, 14; No.2, 1996, J. Shamsie (Ed.), Institute for the Study of Antisocial Behaviour in Youth (IAY), Canada]
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Temperamental and familial predictors of violent and non-violent criminal convictions: from age 3 to age 18. | 1996
Henry, B., Caspi, A., Moffitt,
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Developmental Psychology, 1996, 32(32), 614-623.
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Our ref: RO265
This study examined the relations between family characteristics, childhood temperament, and convictions for violent and nonviolent offenses at age 18 in a representative birth cohort of men who are part of a longitudinal study. Three groups of men were identified on the basis of their conviction status at age 18: Participants who had never been convicted (n = 404), participants who had been convicted for nonviolent offenses only (n = 50),and participants who had been convicted for violent offenses (n = 21). Multivariate analysis of variance and logistic regression analyses indicated that family factors were associated with both types of conviction outcomes, whereas childhood temperament was associated primarily with convictions for violent offenses. The potentially distinct roles of social- and self-regulation in the development of antisocial behavior are discussed.
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Models of adolescent psychopathology: childhood risk and the transition to adulthood | 1995
Feehan, M., McGee, R., Williams,
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Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1995, 34(34), 670-679.
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Our ref: RO256
Objective: To examine the relationship between DSM-III disorder in adolescence (age 15 years) and DSM-III disorder in early adulthood (age 18 years), in relation to a history of behavior problems or disorder, other family and individual characteristics, and events commonly associated with the transition to adulthood. Method: The sample came from a New Zealand birth cohort selected from the general population. Data were obtained from ages 3 to 18 years for 890 of those enrolled. Results: For both males and females, disorder at age 15 was strongly predicted by histories of early mental health problems. However, neither those histories, background characteristics, nor the experience of adolescent transition events modified the strength of association between disorder at ages 15 and 18 years. In childhood, after adjusting for histories of behavior problems, parental separations and (for boys) poor social competence remained independent predictors of disorder at age 15. Overall, boys appeared more vulnerable and those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in early childhood had an elevated risk of disorder at age 18. After adjusting for disorder at age 15, adolescent unemployment remained an independent predictor of disorder at age 18 for both males and females. Conclusions: This study modeled the continuity of disorder across the adolescent transition period and, after taking earlier disorder into account, identified clear predictors of later disorder. This is the first step in the process of developing more effective interventions to reduce the risk of mental health disorders.
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Temperamental origins of child and adolescent behavior problems: From age 3 to age 15. | 1995
Caspi, A., Henry, B., McGee,
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Child Development, 1995, 66(66), 55-68.
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Our ref: RO212
We assessed relations between early temperament and behavior problems across 12 years in an unselected sample of over 800 children. Temperament measures were drawn from behavior ratings made by examiners who observed children at ages 3, 5, 7, and 9. Factor analyses revealed 3 dimensions at each age: Lack of Control, Approach, and Sluggishness. Temperament dimensions at ages 3 and 5 were correlated in theoretically coherent ways with behavior problems that were independently evaluated by parents and teachers at ages 9 and 11, and by parents at ages 13 and 15. Lack of Control was more strongly associated with later externalizing behavior problems than with internalizing problems; Approach was associated with fewer internalizing problems among boys; and Sluggishness was weakly associated with both anxiety and inattention, especially among girls. Lack of Control and Sluggishness were also associated with fewer adolescent competencies. These results suggest that early temperament may have predictive specificity for the development of later psychopathology.
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Are some people crime-prone? Replications of the personality-crime relationship across countries, genders, races and methods | 1994
Caspi, A., Moffitt, T.E., Silva,
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Criminology, 1994, 32(32), 163-195 .
Our ref: RO241
We examined the relation between personality traits and crime in two studies. In New Zealand we studied 18-year-old males and females from an entire birth cohort. In Pittsburgh we studied an ethnically diverse group of 12- and 13-year-old boys. In both studies we gathered multiple and independent measures of personality and delinquent involvement. The personality correlates of delinquency were robust in different nations, in different age cohorts, across gender, and across race: greater delinquent participation was associated with a personality configuration characterized by high Negative Emotionality and weak Constraint. We suggest that when Negative Emotionality (the tendency to experience aversive affective states) is accompanied by weak Constraint (difficulty in impulse control), negative emotions may be translated more readily into antisocial acts. We review additional evidence about the developmental origins and consequences of this personality configuration and discuss its implications for theories about antisocial behavior. [Reprinted in S. Henry & W. Einstadler (Eds), Criminology: Readings in Contempory Theory. NY: New York University Press, 1997]
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Neuropsychological tests predicting persistent male delinquency | 1994
Moffitt, T.E., Lynam, D.R., Silva,
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Criminology, 1994, 32(32), 277-300.
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Our ref: RO239
This article reports the first longitudinal evidence that prospective measures of neuropsychological status predict antisocial outcomes. We studied data for a birth cohort of several hundred New Zealand males from age 13 to age 18. Age-13 neuropsychological scores predicted later delinquency measured via multiple sources: police, courts, and self-report. Poor neuropsychological scores were associated with early onset of delinquency. The results fit our predictions about two trajectories of delinquent involvement: (1) Poor neuropsychological status predicted specifically male offending that began before age 13 and persisted at high levels thereafter. (2) By contrast, in this sample neuropsychological status was unrelated to delinquency that began in adolescence.
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Reading attainment and juvenile delinquency | 1994
Williams, S.M., McGee, R.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1994, 35(35), 441-459.
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Our ref: RO208
Structural equation modelling was used with data from a longitudinal study of child development (N= 698) to examine relationships between early reading attainment and antisocial behaviour at ages 7 and 9 years and subsequent reading and delinquent behaviour in adolescence. While reading, analysed as a continuous variable, did not directly influence later delinquency, antisocial behaviour during the early school years was strongly predictive of delinquency at age 15 years, particularly for boys, and had a detrimental effect on reading. These findings were independent of social disadvantage, and were unchanged by adjusting reading scores for IQ. Reading disability at 9 years old, however, predicted conduct disorder at age 15 in boys.
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Adolescent-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy | 1993
Moffitt, T.E.
Psychological Review, 1993, 100(100), 674-701.
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Our ref: RO221
A dual taxonomy is presented to reconcile 2 incongruous facts about antisocial behavior (a) It shows impressive continuity over age, but (b) its prevalence changes dramatically over age, increasing almost 10-fold temporarily during adolescence. This article suggests that delinquency conceals 2 distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: A small group engages in antisocial behavior of 1 sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence. According to the theory of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior, children's neuropsychological problems interact cumulatively with their criminogenic environments across development, culminating in a pathological personality. According to the theory of adolescence-limited antisocial behavior, a contemporary maturity gap encourages teens to mimic antisocial behavior in ways that are normative and adjustive.
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Early family predictors of child and adolescent antisocial behaviour: who are the mothers of delinquents | 1993
Henry, B., Moffitt, T.E., Robins,
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Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 1993, 3(3), 97-100.
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Our ref: RO198
Examined whether familial characteristics (FCs) are associated with antisocial outcomes (AOs), as opposed to other behavioral or mental health problems that children have. The utility of 29 maternal and FCs to identify children who are at high risk for AOs and delinquent outcomes were tested. Three groups of 11-yr-old children were compared on family variables (FVs): 50 antisocial children, 37 with other disorders, and 220 with no disorder. Nine FVs differentiated the antisocial Ss from the non-disordered Ss. The most important FVs were parental disagreement about how to discipline the 5-yr-old child and many changes of the child's primary caretaker during childhood. Among children who were known to police by age 15, prospective FVs accounted for significant amounts of the variance in number of police contacts and age at 1st contact. FCs were associated with AOs in childhood and early adolescence.
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The neuropsychology of conduct disorder | 1992
Moffitt, T.E.
Development and Psychopathology, 1992, 5(5), 133-149.
doi: 10.1017/S0954579400004302
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Our ref: RO206
This article reviews evidence from neuropsychological tests that brain dysfunction is a correlate of conduct disorder. Most studies report consistent findings of differential neuropsychological deficits for antisocial samples in verbal and ''executive'' functions. Neuropsychological measures are related to some of the best indicators of poor outcome for children with conduct symptoms, such as early onset, stability across time, hyperactive symptoms, and aggressiveness. Neuropsychological tests statistically predict variance in antisocial behavior independently of appropriate control variables. This article argues that neuropsychological variables warrant further study as possible causal factors for conduct disorder and presents one developmental perspective on how neuropsychological problems might contribute risk for conduct disorder.
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Disentangling delinquency and learning disability: Neuropsychological function and social support | 1992
Henry, B., Moffitt, T.E., Silva,
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International Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology, 1992, 13(13), 1-6.
Our ref: RO146
In an effort to further disentangle the correlates of delinquency and learning disability, a study by Sobotowicz, Evans and Laughlin (1987) was replicated using boys from an unselected cohort. Four groups were identified: normal subjects (N; n=316), delinquent subjects (JD: n=50), learning disabled subjects (LD: n=39), and learning disabled/delinquent subjects (LD/JD: n=20). It was predicted that: (1) the N group would outperform the other groups on neuropsychological variables assessing verbal functioning and language skills; (2) the JD group would outperform the LD and LD/JD group on measures of verbal skill; (3) the LD group would out perform the LD/JD group on measures of executive functioning; and (4) the two non-delinquent groups would score higher on measures of social support than would the two delinquent groups. Results indicated that both the delinquent subjects and the learning disabled subjects performed more poorly than controls on measures of verbal skill, and scored lower than controls on measures of social support. No group differences were found on the executive function variables. The results were interpreted as indicating that 'known' correlates of delinquency are actually correlates of delinquency per se, and not simply a result of the large numbers of learning disabled subjects often found in delinquent samples.
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How early can we tell? Predictors of childhood conduct disorder and adolescent delinquency | 1990
White, J.L., Moffitt, T.E., Earls,
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Criminology, 1990, 28(28), 507-533.
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Our ref: RO157
This study examined the power of a variety of characteristics of the preschool child to predict antisocial behaviour at ages 11 and 15 years. After screening preschool measures for their predictive power, a discriminant function analysis was performed with the five most promising preschool predictors. This function correctly classified 81% of subjects as antisocial at age 11 and 66% as delinquent at age 15. Having preschool behaviour problems was the best predictor of antisocial outcome.
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Hyperactivity and serum and hair zinc levels in eleven year old children from the general population | 1990
McGee, R., Williams, S.M., Anderson,
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Biological Psychiatry, 1990, 28(28), 165-168.
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Our ref: RO143
This study examined associations between blood and hair zinc levels and inattentiveness, hyperactivity and antisocial behaviour. No significant associations were found.
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Juvenile delinquency and attention deficit disorder: boys' developmental trajectories from age 3 to age 15 | 1990
Moffitt, T.E.
Child Development, 1990, 61(61), 893-910.
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Our ref: RO137
This study described factors related to delinquency and attention deficit disorder over time. Those with both attention deficit disorder and delinquency fared worst in all analyses. Their delinquency tended to begin early and persist to adolescence. Those who were delinquent but did not have attention deficit disorder showed less risk factors. The comorbidity of attention deficit disorder and delinquency was considered to be a likely predictor of criminal offending beyond adolescence.
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A prospective replication of the protective effect of IQ in subjects at high risk of juvenile delinquency | 1989
White, J.L., Moffitt, T.E., Silva,
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Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1989, 57(57), 719-724.
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Our ref: RO134
The purpose of the study was to test the replicability of a protective effect of high IQ against criminality. Support has been found in prior studies for the hypotheses that Ss at high risk would have an elevated risk of serious criminal involvement, that seriously criminal Ss would have a lower mean IQ score than noncriminal Ss, and that Ss at high risk who had not become involved in serious criminal behavior would have the highest IQs. This report tests these hypotheses in a prospective design. Subjects were 1,037 members of a longitudinal investigation of a New Zealand birth cohort. IQs were examined for male and female Ss who were divided into 4 groups formed on the basis of risk status at age 5 years and delinquency outcome at ages 13 and 15. Analyses were conducted with and without mild delinquents excluded from the nondelinquent groups. We found that male and female delinquents showed significantly lower IQ scores than nondelinquents. By varying S selection procedures, we also found that a very high IQ may help boys, even those at risk, to stay free of delinquency altogether.
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Neuropsychological assessment of executive function deficits in self-reported delinquents | 1989
Moffitt, T.E., Henry, B.
Development and Psychopathology, 1989, 1(1), 105-118.
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Our ref: RO128
Deficits in executive neuropsychological functions have been proposed to underlie the development of antisocial behavior such as juvenile delinquency. Results of research into the executive functions of delinquents have been mixed, and studies have been hampered by reliance on small samples of adjudicated subjects and questionable validity of the tests administered. This research examined the performance of a large unselected birth cohort of adolescent boys and girls on five tests of executive function that have documented reliability and validity. It is the first such study to use self-reports of antisocial behavior. Executive deficits were shown only by a subgroup of delinquent subjects with childhood comorbidity of antisocial behavior and attention deficit disorder; that subgroup's behavior was also rated as more aggressive and impulsive than comparison groups'. Group differences on executive measures remained significant after the effects of overall IQ were statistically controlled. Also, delinquents who had been detected by police did not show poorer executive functions than subjects with equivalent self-reports of delinquent behavior who had evaded official detection, suggesting that executive deficits are related to the development of antisocial behavior itself, and not simply to risk of detection.
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Self-reported delinquency: results from an instrument in New Zealand | 1988
Moffitt, T.E., Silva, P.A.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 1988, 21(21), 227-240.
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Our ref: RO125
This article describes the Self-Report Early Delinquency Scale (SRED), a research instrument designed to capture self reports of illegal and norm violating behaviours from New Zealand adolescents. Reliability and validity are described and were considered adequate for recommending the instrument for use in social science research. Findings in the predicted directions were obtained from the relations between SRED scores and gender, family instability, history of behaviour disorder, social class and intelligence.
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IQ and delinquency: a direct test of the differential detection hypothesis | 1988
Moffitt, T.E., Silva, P.A.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1988, 97(97), 330-333.
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Our ref: RO115
This study examined the IQs of 13 year olds who were classified as officially delinquent, delinquent but with no police record and those without a history of delinquency. There was no significant difference in IQs between the two delinquent sub-groups but both these groups gained significantly lower mean IQs than non-delinquents. These findings did not support the differential detection hypothesis.
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A longitudinal study of depression in 9 year old children | 1988
McGee, R., Williams, S.M.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1988, 27(27), 342-348.
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Our ref: RO108
Three groups of 9 year old children defined as having a current depressive disorder, past depressive disorder or no depressive disorder were studied at ages 11 and 13. Significantly more depressive symptoms were found at age 11 and 13 in those who had depressive symptoms at age 9 or previously. There was also a long-term association between depression and antisocial behaviour in boys (but not girls).The results from this study highlighted the differences between child and adult forms of depression.
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