Risk factors for conduct disorder among Navajo Indian men and women.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the risk factors for conduct disorder before age 15 among Navajo Indians.


METHODS
The study was based on a survey of a stratified random sample of adult Navajo Indians between the ages of 21 and 65 living on and adjacent to two different areas of the Navajo Reservation. There were 531 male and 203 female respondents. The average age (SD) of the men was 38.7 (10.5) years and of the women 35.5 (9.0) years. Conduct disorder was diagnosed retrospectively using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule first developed for the Epidemiological Catchment Area study. The responses were combined into a continuous scale.


RESULTS
Significant risk factors for increased scores on the conduct disorder scale were: histories of physical and sexual abuse in childhood; abusive maternal drinking; a small number of households per camp; younger age; and being male rather than female. Measures of social status and religion in which subjects were raised were not significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Many of the risk factors that are associated with conduct disorder in other populations are also risk factors in the Navajo population. There is suggestive evidence that some of these risk factors have become more common since World War II, raising the possibility that conduct disorder has become more prevalent, as is thought to be the case nationwide.
Kunitz
S J
SJ
Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, N.Y. 14642, USA.
Gabriel
K R
KR
Levy
J E
JE
Henderson
E
E
Lampert
K
K
McCloskey
J
J
Quintero
G
G
Russell
S
S
Vince
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001130:Arizona / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D003625:Data Collection; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009516:New Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011897:Random Allocation; D012067:Religion; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012923:Social Class