This study aimed to evaluate the contribution of conduct disorder (CD), substance misuse and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms to the history of delinquency, current institutional behavioural problems and critical incidents (CI). Fifty-four adolescents in a secure facility were screened for ADHD and CD and completed the Maudsley violence questionnaire, the disruptive behaviour and social problems scale and the self-report delinquency scale. Substance misuse history as well as CI over the previous 10 weeks were also recorded. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that substance misuse and violent cognitions were the best predictors of self-reported delinquency. In contrast, ADHD predicted disruptive institutional behaviour above and beyond that of CD and substance misuse. The findings suggest that ADHD symptoms are important in predicting institutional behavioural disturbance, whereas substance misuse and violent cognitions are better predictors of delinquency in the community.
These themes suggest that 'being held' may, to some extent, fulfil a self-identified need for belonging and reattachment after major losses. Therapeutic interventions may need to take account of the possibility that this confinement may also validate for these young men a tendency to attribute the course of their lives to external factors.
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