Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Apr;52(4):435-443.
doi: 10.1007/s00127-017-1337-5. Epub 2017 Feb 8.

Life course persistent and adolescence limited conduct disorder in a nationally representative US sample: prevalence, predictors, and outcomes

Ashlee A Moore  1   2 , Judy L Silberg  3   4   5 , Roxann Roberson-Nay  3   5 , Briana Mezuk  3   6   7
Affiliations

Life course persistent and adolescence limited conduct disorder in a nationally representative US sample: prevalence, predictors, and outcomes

Ashlee A Moore et al. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: The course of conduct disorder (CD) is heterogeneous. Moffitt proposed the heuristic of life course persistent (LCP) and adolescence limited (AL) to differentiate etiologically distinct forms of antisocial behavior (AB), each with distinct predictors and consequences, although a few studies have assessed this demarcation within the context of CD. The objective of this study was to apply Moffitt's taxonomy in a nationally representative US sample to investigate the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of LCP and AL CD.

Methods: Data come from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies, a set of population-based nationally representative cross-sectional surveys (N = 20,130). Predictors included harsh discipline, maternal and paternal closeness, poverty in childhood, history of learning disability, parental deviance, and nativity. Outcomes included substance use, employment status, education attainment, marital status, income level, and self-rated mental and physical health.

Results: The prevalence of LCP and AL CD was 0.5 and 4.6%, respectively, for females, and 1.9 and 5.1%, respectively, for males. Low childhood SES [Odds Ratio (OR) = 3.49], lack of maternal closeness (OR = 2.50), and history of harsh discipline (OR = 2.17) increased odds of LCP group membership. The LCP group had higher odds of developing substance use disorders (OR = 2.00) relative to AL.

Conclusions: LCP CD is more strongly influenced by childhood environment and confers increased odds for substance use problems in adulthood relative to AL CD.

Keywords: Adolescence limited; Conduct disorder; Epidemiology; Life course persistent; Moffitt’s taxonomy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement: On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th. American Psychiatric Publishing; Arlington: 2013.
    1. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, Walters EE. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Arch Gen Psychiat. 2005;62:593–602. - PubMed
    1. Simonoff E, Elander J, Holmshaw J, Pickles A, Murray R, Rutter M. Predictors of antisocial personality: Continuities from childhood to adult life. Brit J Psychiat. 2004;184:118–127. - PubMed
    1. Bardone AM, Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Dickson N, Stanton WR, Silva PA. Adult physical health outcomes of adolescent girls with conduct disorder, depression, and anxiety. J Am Acad Child Psy. 1998;37:594–601. - PubMed
    1. Kim-Cohen J, Caspi A, Moffitt TE, Harrington H, Milne BJ, Poulton R. Prior juvenile diagnoses in adults with mental disorder: Developmental follow-back of a prospective-longitudinal cohort. Arch Gen Psychiat. 2003;60:709–717. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources