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Biomedical subjects

Magda Stouthamer-Loeber

Publications and source records attributed to Magda Stouthamer-Loeber.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Women with antisocial behaviour: long-term health disability and help-seeking for emotional problems.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported that women who display antisocial behaviour (ASB) as adults or adolescents are at increased risk of poor mental and physical health, but have not tested effects of sociodemographics, or used only incarcerated samples. AIMS: The authors sought first to test associations between ASB and emotional or physical health problems in non-incarcerated women, and second whether any such association could be explained by sociodemographic factors. METHOD: The sample was 1218 mothers, aged 22-59, of boys randomly selected from grades 1, 4 and 7 (aged about 7, 10 and 13 respectively) in US urban public schools in 1987 and 1988. The 30% of boys designated most antisocial on initial examination and a 30% random sample of the remainder entered the longitudinal study. Demographics for the mothers, data on their lifetime ASB, help-seeking for emotional and/or physical health problems were collected at interview with them. A history of adolescent conduct problems and/or lifetime police contacts led to classification as antisocial for this study. RESULTS: A total of 214 (17.6 %) of the mothers met our criteria for ASB. Compared with the women without such history, the women with ASB were younger, less well educated, of lower socioeconomic status, had a higher rate of unemployment and more of them were single mothers. They more often sought help for emotional problems and reported higher rates of long-term physical health problems, even when the effects of sociodemographic factors were taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: Although the findings rule out many sociodemographic factors as simple explanations for the association between ASB and poor emotional and physical health, more work is needed on the nature and extent of such disorder, and of temporal relationships between the key events: poor health and ASB.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Mood and hormone responses to psychological challenge in adolescent males with conduct problems.

BACKGROUND: Relations between stress hormones and antisocial behavior are understudied. METHODS: A subsample (n = 335) of at-risk males recruited in first grade for a longitudinal study were recruited at approximately 16 years of age for a laboratory study, including two psychological challenges: describing their worst experience on videotape, and a task in which a loud tone could be avoided. Measures of affect, urine, and saliva were collected multiple times before and after challenges. RESULTS: Negative affect increased following the worst-event challenge and decreased following the avoidance challenge. Mean conduct problems (CP) across ages 7-17 years were positively related to negative affect and inversely related to positive affect. CP were inversely related to post-challenge urinary epinephrine (E) levels when baseline E and potential confounds were controlled. Cortisol concentrations in saliva collected soon after the first challenge were positively related to CP in a post hoc subset of youths with extreme CP. CONCLUSIONS: Key findings A) associated persistent CP with more negative affectivity and less positive affectivity, B) replicated and extended prior findings of an inverse association of CP and urinary E, and C) suggested provocative hypotheses for future study relating CP, trauma history, trauma recall, and cortisol reactivity.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2005

Adolescent psychopathy and the big five: results from two samples.

The present study examines the relation between psychopathy and the Big Five dimensions of personality in two samples of adolescents. Specifically, the study tests the hypothesis that the aspect of psychopathy representing selfishness, callousness, and interpersonal manipulation (Factor 1) is most strongly associated with low Agreeableness, whereas the aspect of psychopathy representing impulsivity, instability, and social deviance (Factor 2) is associated with low Agreeableness, low Conscientiousness, and high Neuroticism. Data from 13- and 16-year-old boys and their mothers from two samples of the Pittsburgh Youth Study are used to test these hypotheses. Results were consistent across age and rating source in supporting the initial hypotheses, providing support for the construct of juvenile psychopathy and the interpretation of psychopathy as a constellation of traits drawn from a general model of personality functioning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Neurocognitive impairments in boys on the life-course persistent antisocial path.

This study addresses 5 unresolved issues in the neuropsychology of antisocial behavior using a community sample of 325 school boys in whom neurocognitive measures were assessed at age 16-17 years. Antisocial behavior measures collected from age 7-17 years were cluster analyzed and produced 4 groups: control, childhood-limited, adolescent-limited, and life-course persistent. Those on the lifecourse persistent path and also on the childhood-limited path were particularly impaired on spatial and memory functions. Impairments were independent of abuse, psychosocial adversity, head injury, and hyperactivity. Findings provide some support for the life-course persistent versus adolescent-limited theory of antisocial behavior and suggest that (a) neurocognitive impairments are profound and not artifactual and (b) childhood-limited antisocials may not be free of long-lasting functional impairment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Reduced electrodermal activity in psychopathy-prone adolescents.

This study tests the hypothesis that psychopathy-prone adolescents show reduced anticipatory skin conductance responding. Electrodermal activity was recorded while participants anticipated and responded to a 105 dB signaled or unsignaled white-noise burst. Using an extreme groups design, the authors used Child Psychopathy Scale (D. R. Lynam, 1997) scores from a community sample of 335 male adolescents (age 16) to form control (n = 65) and psychopathy-prone (n = 65) groups. Significantly more psychopathy-prone participants were nonresponders in the signaled anticipatory (p = .014), signaled responsivity (p = .037), and unsignaled responsivity (p = .003) conditions compared with controls. Anticipatory hyporesponsivity of psychopathy-prone adolescents similar to the electrodermal hyporesponsivity found in psychopathic adults suggests that this autonomic impairment is present by adolescence and may predispose individuals to adult psychopathy.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2005

The prediction of violence and homicide in young men.

In this prospective study, the authors predicted violence and homicide in 3 representative school samples (N = 1,517). Participants were part of a longitudinal, multiple cohort study on the development of delinquency in boys from late childhood to early adulthood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thirty-three participants were convicted of homicide, 193 participants were convicted of serious violence, whereas another 498 participants self-reported serious violence. Predictors of violence included risk factors in the domains of child, family, school, and demographic characteristics. Boys with 4 or more violence risk factors were 6 times more likely to later commit violence in comparison with boys with fewer than 4 risk factors (odds ratio [OR] = 6.05). A subset of risk factors related to violence also predicted homicide among violent offenders. Boys with 4 or more risk factors for homicide were 14 times more likely to later commit homicide than violent individuals with fewer than 4 risk factors (OR = 14.48). Implications for the prevention of violence and homicide are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Young girls' expectancies about the effects of alcohol, future intentions and patterns of use.

OBJECTIVE: In recent years, rates of alcohol use among young female adolescents have been increasing. Despite such trends, little is known about the precursors of use and intentions to use alcohol among preadolescents. The current prospective study examines the prevalence and correlates of alcohol use, future intentions and alcohol-related expectancies among young girls from ages 8 to 10 years. METHOD: Alcohol use behaviors and attitudes were assessed annually over a 3-year period in a community sample of 1,161 preadolescent girls. The girls comprised the two oldest cohorts of the ongoing Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 2,451). Data were collected via separate parent and child interviews conducted in the participants' homes. RESULTS: The prevalence of alcohol use without parental permission was less than 3% in any given year between ages 8 and 10. Most girls reported sipping only, and there was little continuity of use across assessments. Alcohol-related expectancies were predominantly negative during this period but decreased with age. Positive expectancies, however, increased, particularly among white girls. Early alcohol use was predicted by black race and peer use. Intentions to use alcohol were predicted by low levels of negative expectancies and peer use. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the knowledge of use of alcohol and the development of positive and negative alcohol-related expectancies in girls of elementary school age.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2004

Racial differences in trajectories of cigarette use.

This study examined racial differences in developmental trajectories of cigarette smoking from childhood into young adulthood. We used data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a prospective, longitudinal study of high-risk males. We developed trajectories of cigarette smoking from age 10 through age 25. Models were estimated separately for African-Americans (N = 562) and Whites (N = 421) because preliminary analyses indicated that there were significant racial differences in onset, levels and patterns of cigarette use. Three trajectory groups emerged for both races: nonsmokers, light/occasional smokers and heavy/regular smokers. Significantly more Whites were in the heavy/regular smoker group and more African-Americans were in the nonsmoker group. White compared to African-American heavy/regular smokers began smoking earlier and reached higher mean quantities of cigarettes per day. In addition, there were racial differences in the timing and rapidity of the development of regular smoking over time. Race remained a significant predictor of cigarette use even after controls for socioeconomic status. Overall, the results indicate that developmental trends in smoking differ by race and that cigarette smoking remains more prevalent and more frequent for White than African-American males, at least through young adulthood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Phenomenology of depression in young girls.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms, the overlap between caregiver and child report, the association between depression and anxiety, and the relationship between symptoms of depression and impairment in young girls. METHOD: Participants in the Pittsburgh Girls Study, a community sample of 2,451 girls aged 5-8 years old and their primary caregivers were interviewed in 2000-2001 using the Child Symptom Inventory and the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire to measure depression, the Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Emotional Disorders to measure anxiety, and the Children's Global Assessment Scale to measure impairment. RESULTS: Less than 1% of 5- to 8-year-old girls had five or more symptoms of major depression according to the caregiver report. Individual differences in symptom counts and depression scores by caregiver and child report were observed. Agreement between caregivers and girls on depression symptoms was low, with only 2% of the variance in caregiver-reported depression on the Child Symptom Inventory being accounted for by child report on the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire. The level of association between depression and anxiety scores suggested that these constructs are associated but relatively independent in young girls. Both caregiver report and child report of depressive symptoms were uniquely associated with impairment ratings. CONCLUSIONS: Although major depression appears to be rare among 5- to 8-year-old girls, continuous measures of depressive symptoms yield significant individual differences that are associated with impairment. Thus, preliminary evidence suggests that depressive symptoms can be validly measured in 5- to 8-year-old girls.

Anxiety↗
PubMed2004

Desistance from persistent serious delinquency in the transition to adulthood.

Many delinquent youth stop offending sometime in late adolescence or early adulthood. However, little is known about individual differences in desistance and which factors promote or inhibit desistance. In the current study, young males in the oldest sample of the Pittsburgh Youth Study were followed from ages 13 to 25. About one-third became persistent serious delinquents between ages 13 and 19. Out of that group, almost 40% desisted in serious offending between ages 20 and 25. Significantly more of the desisters, compared to the persisters in serious delinquency, had been employed or in school. Bivariate analyses demonstrated many predictors of desistance of serious delinquency in early adulthood in the domains of individual, family, and peer factors measured from early adolescence onward. Multiple regression analyses showed that the following promotive factors were associated with desistance: low physical punishment by parents in early adolescence and being employed or in school in early adulthood. The following risk factors were inversely associated with desistance during early adulthood: serious delinquency during late adolescence, hard drug use, gang membership, and positive perception of problem behavior in early adulthood. The article discusses the implications of promotive and risk factors for preventive interventions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Reading problems and depressed mood.

Although reading difficulties show well-established overlaps with disruptive behavior disorders in childhood, much less is known about reading-disabled children's vulnerability to emotional difficulties. Using longitudinal data from 6 assessments of boys in the Pittsburgh Youth Study, we found robust links between severe, persistent reading problems and increased risk for depressed mood in a community sample of boys aged 7 and 10 years at initial assessment, though not in those who had already entered their teens. These associations could not be accounted for in terms of selected family risks or comorbid disruptive behaviors; instead, the pattern of the findings pointed to the existence of more direct causal processes whereby reading problems influence younger boys' risk of depressed mood.

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorder↗
PubMed2002

Lost opportunities for intervention: undetected markers for the development of serious juvenile delinquency.

INTRODUCTION: Persistent serious delinquency in young males rarely starts without a history of problem behaviour in childhood. This paper addresses the following questions: (1) At what age does persistent serious offending emerge for the first time? (2) What proportion of persistent serious delinquent boys qualifies for a diagnosis of a disruptive behaviour disorder? (3) What proportion of persistent serious delinquent boys receive help for their behavioural or educational problems, either from mental health professionals or from personnel at school? METHOD: Eight waves of assessments from the oldest sample (ages 13 to 18.5) of the Pittsburgh Youth Study were used to classify boys as persistent serious violent offenders, persistent serious property offenders, persistent non-serious offenders, and non-offenders based on their self-reports. Juvenile court records, diagnostic information and information about help for mental health problems were used. RESULTS: Almost half of the boys who eventually become a persistent serious offender already have an onset of their serious delinquent behaviour by age 12. Two-thirds of the boys who come to the attention of the juvenile court already had behaviour problems for at least five years, and one-third were diagnosed as having a disruptive behaviour disorder by age 13. However, less than half of the persistent serious delinquents had received any help from either mental health professionals or from personnel in schools. CONCLUSIONS: Early behaviour problems and a diagnosis of disruptive behaviour disorder constitute targets for intervention. The relatively low rate of interventions for boys with these problems and who later become persistent serious offenders indicates a high under-utilization of opportunities to prevent serious delinquency by parents and professionals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

How many of the offspring born to teenage fathers are produced by repeated serious delinquents?

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have found an association between teenage fatherhood and delinquency. Yet, it is not clear whether there is a dose response relationship between the severity of delinquency and teenage fatherhood. This paper quantifies the public health impact of serious delinquency on the risk of impregnation and teenage fatherhood among urban, adolescent males. METHODS: Using data up to age 19, rates of sexual activity, impregnation and fatherhood are compared among three groups: minor/non-delinquents, moderate delinquents and repeat serious delinquents. RESULTS: The results demonstrate a dose response relationship between delinquency and age of onset of sexual activity, whereby more serious delinquents began having sex at younger ages. By age 19, almost half of repeat serious delinquents (46.7%) had caused a pregnancy, and nearly a third (31.4%) had fathered children. Rates of impregnation and fatherhood were twice as high among repeat serious delinquents compared with moderate and minor/non-delinquents. Repeat serious delinquents were also more likely than others to father multiple children; of the children produced by teenage fathers in this study, almost two-thirds (65%) were fathered by repeat serious delinquents. During late adolescence, repeat serious delinquents continued to be at greater risk for fathering children, as they were continuing to have unsafe sex more frequently and with more partners. CONCLUSIONS: Repeat serious delinquents comprise a crucial but hard-to-reach population for family planning services and parenthood education. Programmes and services for teenage pregnancy prevention need extra funding and efforts to address this population, in terms of both the primary prevention of pregnancy and the prevention of repeat pregnancies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Characteristics of girls with early onset disruptive and antisocial behaviour.

BACKGROUND: Crime, particularly among juvenile females, has increased in recent years. Little is known, however, about the development and precursors in childhood of female delinquent behaviour. This is primarily due to a lack of consensus on how to define and assess female antisocial behaviour, and a lack of studies using sufficiently large samples. METHOD: A community sample of 2451 girls between the ages of five and eight years were recruited into a longitudinal study following the enumeration of 103,238 households in the city of Pittsburgh. Data on disruptive and antisocial behaviours were collected from parents, teachers and children during the first wave of the study. RESULTS: Prevalence rates of disruptive disorders varied by choice of informants and measurement thresholds. The prevalence of most disruptive behaviours was similar across the four age cohorts. Where there were differences, parents of younger girls tended to report fewer problematic behaviours compared with parents of older girls. Teachers reported more disruptive behaviours than parents and, by their reports, older girls were more likely to show oppositional/defiant behaviour and relational aggression than younger girls. Girls scoring highly on several domains relative to their peers were over-represented in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. CONCLUSIONS: A range of disruptive disorders are present among a subgroup of females at an early age, particularly among girls in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Longitudinal follow-up is required to examine the developmental trajectories and predictive utility of these behaviours. The implications for clinical interventions are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Serious delinquent behavior, sensation seeking, and electrodermal arousal.

Low tonic skin conductance level (SCL) has been related, inconsistently, to both delinquency and sensation-seeking. This study tests the hypothesis that there is an interaction such that high sensation seeking delinquents, in particular, have low SCLs. Participants consisted of 335 boys from the Pittsburgh Youth Study classified as serious delinquents or controls based upon 10 years of prospectively collected self-report delinquency data. Participants' skin conductance was evaluated at age 16 along with several personality and neuropsychological measures. Both delinquency and sensation seeking were characterized by low SCL. However, there was no evidence to suggest that the presence of both of these factors together lead to especially low skin conductance levels. This finding is not explained by differences between the groups on measures of negative emotionality, IQ, socioeconomic status, or impulsivity.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2002

Risk and promotive effects in the explanation of persistent serious delinquency in boys.

Risk and promotive effects were investigated as predictors of persistent serious delinquency in male participants of the Pittsburgh Youth Study (R. Loeber, D. P. Farrington, M. Stouthamer-Loeber, & W. B. van Kammen, 1998), living in different neighborhoods. Participants were studied over ages 13-19 years for the oldest sample and 7-13 years for the youngest sample. Risk and promotive effects were studied in 6 domains: child behavior, child attitudes, school and leisure activities, peer behaviors, family functioning, and demographics. Regression models improved when promotive effects were included with risk effects in predicting persistent serious delinquency. Disadvantaged neighborhoods, compared with better neighborhoods, had a higher prevalence of risk effects and a lower prevalence of promotive effects. However, predictive relations between risk and promotive effects and persistent serious delinquency were linear and similar across neighborhood socioeconomic status.

Adolescent↗