Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE: The association between deficits in verbal processing skills and disruptive psychopathology remains one of the most frequently replicated findings in all of child psychiatry. This study uses a dichotic consonant-vowel listening test to examine the potential neural basis for this association. METHOD: A series of 87 young boys recruited from a sample at risk for disruptive disorders received standardized psychiatric, neuropsychological, and language skills assessments. Approximately 1 year later, these boys received a reassessment of their psychiatric status and a test that assesses the neural basis of language-processing ability, a dichotic consonant-vowel listening test. RESULTS: Disruptive psychopathology predicted reduced right ear accuracy for dichotic syllables, indicative of a deficit in left hemisphere processing ability. Deficits in reading and language ability also correlated with right ear accuracy for dichotic syllables. CONCLUSIONS: Boys with disruptive behavior disorders, relative to at-risk but nondisruptive boys, exhibit a deficit in verbal processing abilities on dichotic listening tasks. This deficit in verbal processing ability is also manifested as low scores on standardized tests of reading achievement and language comprehension

BACKGROUND: There is evidence of relationships among serotonin, aggressive behavior, and a childhood history of socially adverse-rearing conditions. This study examines the prolactin response to fenfluramine hydrochloride challenge in young boys who show clinically significant aggressive behavior or who are raised in a social environment that is conducive to the development of chronic aggression. METHODS: A series of 34 younger brothers of convicted delinquents underwent standardized psychiatric and observation-based assessments of their social-rearing environments that were conducted during home visits. Approximately 2 years later, these boys underwent a reassessment of psychiatric status and an assessment of central serotonergic activity using the fenfluramine challenge procedure. RESULTS: Increasing degrees of aggressive behavior at either assessment were positively correlated with the prolactin response to fenfluramine challenge. Furthermore, adverse-rearing circumstances that were conducive to the development of aggressive behavior also exhibited positive correlations with the prolactin response. This association between adverse rearing and the prolactin response was statistically independent of that between aggression and the prolactin response. CONCLUSION: In young boys, aggressive behavior and social circumstances that are conducive to the development of aggressive behavior are positively correlated with a marker of central serotonergic activity

Age and sex norms of classroom behavior in preschoolers were established on a standard measure, the Revised Conners Teacher Rating Scale, and the utility of this measure for assessing problem behavior in preschoolers was examined. Teachers provided ratings for 455 nonreferred preschoolers. In addition, ratings were obtained for 12 clinically referred preschoolers diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Conduct Problems, Inattention, and Hyperactivity subscales, as well as the Hyperactivity Index, were found to have good internal reliability and were related to each other in predictable ways. Normative data are presented by age and sex. Age was inversely related to scores for the Conduct Problems subscale, the Hyperactivity subscale and the Index. Sex was a significant predictor of subscale scores, with boys receiving higher scores than girls. Subscale scores and nearly all item scores were highly significantly different between clinically referred and nonreferred preschoolers. The results provide a standard upon which to evaluate preschool-aged children in clinical and research settings

OBJECTIVE: As part of a larger, prospective study, the authors examined concurrent and prospective relations among parenting and child antisocial behavior in inner-city boys at high risk for delinquent behavior. METHOD: One hundred twenty-six younger brothers (aged 6 to 10 years) of convicted delinquents in New York City and their parents were assessed; 15 months later 112 boys were reassessed. Demographics, parenting, and child diagnosis were examined as they relate to child externalizing behavior problems. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses predicted changes in Externalizing scores from year I parenting. RESULTS: At years I and II, 22% and 27% of boys, respectively, scored above the clinical cutoff for Externalizing. Controlling for earlier Externalizing, each of three domains of parenting still made significant independent contributions to later Externalizing scores, explaining 17% of the variance. Altogether this model explained 51% of the variance in year II Externalizing scores. CONCLUSIONS: Data support a cumulative risk model, whereby each of several adverse parenting factors further compounds the likelihood of child conduct problems

OBJECTIVE: A teacher rating scale designed to reflect current diagnostic descriptors of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder was developed and standardized. METHOD: Teacher ratings were obtained for 1,258 1st-through 10th-grade children from two school districts in New York and for 81 clinically referred children with conduct disorder. RESULTS: Three factors relevant to oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder were generated: defiance, physical aggression, and delinquent aggression. A fourth factor reflects peer problems. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and interrater reliability are documented using a population and a conduct disorder sample. The validity of the factors is supported by the factors' ability to discriminate between children in the general population and those with conduct disorders, by correlations with global impairment items, and by expected sex differences. CONCLUSION: The scale has utility for assessing symptoms of conduct disorder in school settings

Conduct disorders represent the most serious, stable, childhood psychiatric disorders. This condition has a poor long-term prognosis and entails devastating consequences for children, their families, and their communities. This article provides a review of the current status of prevention and treatment strategies for conduct disorders

Conduct disorders represent one of the most troubling and persistent childhood psychiatric disorders. This serious condition has a poor long-term prognosis and entails a wide range of negative consequences over the life span. No single intervention strategy has been identified that successfully alters its negative course. This article reviews developmental findings and previous intervention efforts and provides a rationale for approaching the problem of Conduct Disorder through primary preventive intervention. A comprehensive, family-based prevention model and specific clinical strategies for intervention are described. A case example is used to illustrate the integration of program components