Hyperactive and antisocial behaviors: comorbid or two points in the same process?
We hypothesized that hyperactivity defines the first stage and that antisocial problems define a second stage in a progression that leads eventually to early-onset delinquency. As expected, a structural equation model (SEM) showed that a latent construct for hyperactivity was significantly related to a latent construct for antisocial problems. We hypothesized that this path reflected a shared mechanism, disrupted parental discipline. A second SEM showed that the relation between hyperactivity and antisocial behavior really reflected a shared disruption in parental discipline. A third SEM showed that having antisocial parents was uniquely correlated with antisocial children but not with hyperactivity. A fourth SEM showed that early-onset delinquency was predicted by a latent construct for antisocial child; but when this was partialed out, the contribution for hyperactivity was nonsignificant.
Patterson
G R
GR
Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene 97401, USA. carleenr@oslc.org
DeGarmo
D S
DS
Knutson
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications*; D015897:Comorbidity; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies