Separation and comorbidity of hyperactivity and conduct disturbance in Chinese schoolboys.
In a two-stage community study of 3069 Chinese schoolboys in Hong Kong, those entering stage 2 were classified by scores on Rutter's teacher and parent questionnaires into: (1) a mixed hyperactive/conduct-disturbed (HA-CD) group; (2) a pure hyperactive (HA) group; (3) a pure conduct-disturbed (CD) group; and (4) a normal control group. The four groups of children were compared on a series of psychosocial, cognitive and neurodevelopmental measures. This was followed by a regression analysis to examine the specificity of the differential patterns of associations between HA and CD. There was a mix of negative and positive findings defying a simple, definitive conclusion. However, the positive findings that did emerge supported a growing body of recent literature which favoured a separation of HA from CD and their cross-cultural validity: the former was associated with neurodevelopmental impairments, the latter with family disharmony. The mixed condition, HA-CD, was a hybrid of its two constituent conditions, displaying the attributes of both.
Leung
P W
PW
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
Ho
T P
TP
Luk
S L
SL
Taylor
E
E
Bacon-Shone
J
J
Mak
F L
FL
D000124:Achievement; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications; D015897:Comorbidity; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000150:complications; D005192:Family Health; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006948:Hyperkinesis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications