What predicts persistent early conduct problems? Evidence from the Growing Up in Scotland cohort

Abstract

BackgroundThere is a strong case for early identification of factors predicting life-course-persistent conduct disorder. The authors aimed to identify factors associated with repeated parental reports of preschool conduct problems.MethodNested case–control study of Scottish children who had behavioural data reported by parents at 3, 4 and 5 years.Results79 children had abnormal conduct scores at all three time points (‘persistent conduct problems’) and 434 at one or two points (‘inconsistent conduct problems’). 1557 children never had abnormal scores. Compared with children with no conduct problems, children with reported problems were significantly more likely to have mothers who smoked during pregnancy. They were less likely to be living with both parents and more likely to be in poor general health, to have difficulty being understood, to have a parent who agrees that smacking is sometimes necessary and to be taken to visit other people with children rarely. The results for children with persistent and inconsistent conduct problems were similar, but associations with poverty and maternal smoking were significantly less strong in the inconsistent group.ConclusionThese factors may be valuable in early identification of risk of major social difficulties.

Language and social/emotional problems identified at a universal developmental assessment at 30 months

“…Of the sample of 425 children for whom we have SDQ data; 8.8% were above the threshold for the Total Difficulties Score of the SDQ, while a higher proportion (13.6%) had scores suggesting likely emotional and conduct problems (following further examination of the individual subscales). Similar data have been reported from the Growing up in Scotland cohort at age 34 months [51]. No socio-economic patterning of language or social/emotional/behavioural problems was evident in our sample.…”

Measuring the foundations of school readiness: Introducing a new questionnaire for teachers – The Brief Early Skills and Support Index (BESSI)

“…In particular, the brevity of the SDQ has made it a valuable alternative to the in-depth Child Behaviour Check List (Achenbach, 1991). Indeed, the SDQ has now been used in numerous population cohort studies (Griffiths, Dezateux, & Hill, 2011;O'Connor, Heron, Golding, Beveridge, & Glover, 2002;Wilson et al, 2013).…”

Breastfeeding and Later Psychosocial Development of Children at 6 Years of Age

“…[10][11][12][13][14]16,[24][25][26][27][28][29] Covariates from IFPS II included the following: race/ ethnicity (white, black, Hispanic, and other); maternal age (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, and $35 years); maternal education (high school or less, some college, college graduate, and not specified); prepregnancy BMI (,18.5, 18.5-24.9, 25.0-29.9, and $30); possible maternal postpartum depression (based on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: $10 = yes, 0 to ,10 = no, and "not specified" for missing or incomplete responses) 30 ; maternal smoking in the first year (none and any); marital status (married, unmarried, and not specified); poverty-toincome ratio (,185%, 185%-349%, and $350%) 31 ; postnatal participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC; yes or no); child gender (male or female); birth weight of child in grams; and gestational age of child at birth in weeks.…”