title: Medical histories of delinquent and nondelinquent children: an epidemiological study.
abstract: The authors studies the hospital records of 109 delinquent children and a matched comparison group of 109 nondelinquent children. The number, reasons for, and timing of hospital contacts significantly differentiated the delinquent from the nondelinquent children; perinatal difficulties did not. The authors hypothesize that an interaction of developmental factors and parental inadequacies accounts for the clustering of hospital contacts before age 4 and between ages 14 and 16 in the delinquent sample. They discuss the implications of their findings for prevention.
mesh_terms: D000057:Accident Proneness; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002657:Child Development; D002668:Child Rearing; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D009017:Morbidity; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D011247:Pregnancy; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology