Preadolescent Conduct Problems in Girls and Boys

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ABSTRACT

Objective

To examine sex differences in correlates of disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) in preadolescent children using indicators of a wide range of well-established risk factors for DBDs and outcomes 3 years after initial assessment.

Method

Analyses were based on data for 5- to 10-year-olds (n = 5,913) from the British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey 1999, and a 3-year follow-up of selected subsamples (n = 1,440) at ages 8 through 13 years. DSM-IV diagnoses were assigned using the Developmental and Well-Being Assessment at both contacts.

Results

Boys and girls were equally exposed to most social and family risks for DBDs, with little evidence of differential sensitivity to these risks. Boys were exposed more to neurodevelopmental difficulties, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and peer problems and had lower rates of prosocial behaviors; together, these factors and physical punishment could account for 54% of the observed sex differences in DBDs. At follow-up, outcomes for girls and boys with DBDs were very similar. For children with subthreshold conduct problems at initial assessment, boys were more likely to go on to exhibit DBDs than were girls (25% versus 7%).

Conclusions

Sex differences in the levels of a variety of child characteristics and interpersonal factors are likely to be important in understanding sex differences in risk for DBDs in preadolescent samples.

Section snippets

Participants.

The survey was funded by the British Department of Health and carried out by the Office for National Statistics; full details of the design and measures are available elsewhere (Ford et al., 2003; Meltzer et al., 2000). Briefly, the Child Benefit Register was used as a sampling frame to identify children ages 5-15 in England, Scotland, and Wales; because Child Benefit is a universal state benefit, this register provides a relatively complete basis for sampling the child population in the United

Prevalence and Comorbidity.

Table 1 shows the prevalence of DSM-IV CD, ODD, and DBD NOS in 5- to 10-year-old girls and boys in B-CAMHS99. Rates of DSM-IV CD and ODD were broadly in line with those reported in previous studies. ODD was more common than CD in this preadolescent age group, and all of the CD/ODD categories were diagnosed at least twice as frequently in boys as they were in girls. There were no significant age variations in the prevalence of any of the selected disorders in either boys or girls (full details

Sex Differences in Correlates of DBDs

To explore correlates of sex differences in DBDs, we followed the three-step strategy suggested by Rutter et al. (2003), testing first for sex differences in exposure to known risks, next for sex differences in sensitivity to risk, and finally the extent to which variations in either of these processes could account for observed sex differences in rates of DBDS.

In terms of exposure, the findings differed consistently between social and familial risks on the one hand and individual child

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    This article was supported by Medical Research Council Programme Grant G9901475 to Dr. Maughan. The original data collection was funded by the British Department of Health.

    Disclosure: The authors have no financial relationships to disclose.

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