Developmental pathways to conduct disorder

Abstract

This article highlights how a developmental approach to understanding the causes of conduct disorder (CD) could be critical for understanding and preventing delinquent and violent behavior in youth. The approach recognizes that there may be multiple causal pathways leading to CD. It also integrates developmental research and theory with research on antisocial and aggressive behavior to explain how normal developmental mechanisms may be disrupted to place a child at risk for showing problem behavior. The article reviews research outlining several such pathways that differ in the age at which serious conduct problems develop and that differ on the presence or absence of callous-unemotional traits. The presence of these different developmental pathways has important implications for how research is conducted to study CD and interventions are implemented to prevent or treat children who have CD.