Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Loeber

Publications and source records attributed to R Loeber.

68 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Serious conduct problems in the children of adolescent mothers: disentangling confounded correlations.

Early motherhood (less than 20 years of age) was found to be significantly correlated (r = .33) with the number of DSM-III symptoms of conduct disorder in a sample of 253 boys aged 6-13 years who had been referred to outpatient clinics. The following models were compared using path analysis: (a) Teenage motherhood, parental antisocial personality, and SES each contribute uniquely to the prediction of childhood conduct problems; (b) teenage motherhood mediates the association of SES and parental antisocial personality with child conduct problems; and (c) teenage motherhood is spuriously related with child conduct problems because of common associations with SES and parental antisocial personality. Model (c) best fit our data. Similar results were obtained whether maternal age at the birth of the firstborn child or the proband child was used to define maternal age and when teenage motherhood was defined as giving birth at less than 18 years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Comparison of DSM-III and DSM-III-R diagnoses for prepubertal children: changes in prevalence and validity.

A structured and reliable diagnostic procedure based on a revised version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children for children, parents, and teachers was used to assign both DSM-III and DSM-III-R diagnoses to 177 outpatient boys aged 7 to 12 years. Compared to their DSM-III counterparts, DSM-III-R oppositional defiant disorder was 25.5% less prevalent, DSM-III-R dysthymia was 37.8% less prevalent, and DSM-III-R conduct disorder (CD) was 44.3% less prevalent. However, DSM-III-R attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was 14.4% more prevalent than DSM-III attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. The two definitions of CD were compared to exemplify an empirical approach to diagnostic validation. The DSM-III-R diagnosis of CD appears to be more valid as it is more strongly associated with police contacts, school suspensions, and history of antisocial personality disorder in the biological father, but both CD diagnoses are associated with family histories of criminal convictions.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Boys who lie.

Lying in 4th-, 7th-, and 10th-grade boys was measured through parent and teacher reports. There was a tendency for the prevalence of lying to be lower for older boys. In all three grades lying was significantly related to several problem behaviors, such as delinquency, theft, and fighting. However, the correlations were generally higher for older than for younger children. Children who lied were more likely to come from families where mothers poorly supervised their children and rejected them, and where parents did not get along well or did not live together. Socioeconomic status was not related to children's lying.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

The utility of differentiating between mixed and pure forms of antisocial child behavior.

This study examined the utility of classifying boys on the basis of a typology of antisocial behavior. A group of 195 boys, aged 10-17, was divided into four mutually exclusive groups based on their pattern of antisocial behavior. Stealing and fighting were chosen as criteria to define the four groups: boys who fought but did not steal (Exclusive Fighter Group), boys who stole but did not fight (Exclusive Theft Group), boys who stole and fought (Versatile Antisocial Group), and boys who did neither (Remaining Group). A multimethod-multirespondent study of these boys showed that the Exclusive Fighter Group tended to score high on a range of overt antisocial behaviors and were relatively little involved in delinquency; the Exclusive Theft Group tended to score high on some overt antisocial behaviors and were much involved in delinquency; Versatile Antisocial youths scored highest among all groups on almost all overt and covert antisocial behaviors, and in terms of delinquent acts. The Versatile boys came from families with the most disturbed child-rearing practices.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Empirical evidence for overt and covert patterns of antisocial conduct problems: a metaanalysis.

Twenty-eight factor- and cluster-analytic studies of child psychopathology were examined for patterns in antisocial behavior. A multidimensional scaling analysis yielded one dimension that was labeled overt-covert antisocial behavior. One end of this dimension consisted of overt or confrontive antisocial behaviors such as arguing, temper tantrums, and fighting. The other end consisted of covert or concealed antisocial behaviors such as stealing, truancy, and fire setting. Implications derived from the present findings are discussed as they apply to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of antisocial behaviors in children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Adolescent marijuana and alcohol use: the role of parents and peers revisited.

The present study focuses on the role of deviant peers, parent child-rearing practices, and parent alcohol use in the initiation of marijuana and alcohol use during adolescence. Composite measures of Deviant Peers and Parental Monitoring were used that incorporate both the parents' and child's report of these variables as well as the parents' report of their own alcohol use and the adolescent's report of marijuana and alcohol use. Multiple regression analyses incorporating Parental Monitoring, Mother Alcohol Use, and Deviant Peers as independent variables revealed significant standardized b coefficients for Deviant Peers predicting alcohol use, and both Parental Monitoring and Deviant Peers predicting marijuana use. A profile analysis showed that delinquent drug users had lower parental monitoring and more deviant peers than nondelinquent drug users or abstainers. However, a group of youngsters were identified who reported some substance use but were not antisocial; these youngsters resembled abstainers in respect to the degree that they were monitored by parents and exposed to deviant peers. Taking these results into consideration, along with longitudinal studies on adolescent delinquency and adult alcoholism, it is hypothesized that adolescent delinquency and drug use are outcomes of disrupted family processes and exposure to deviant peers, and that adolescents who are both antisocial and use drugs may be at higher risk for eventual substance abuse.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Skill deficits and male adolescent delinquency.

The research literature on juvenile delinquency shows that antisocial adolescents are often lacking in academic, interpersonal, and work skills. Past research on antisocial adolescents has focused primarily on the relationship between single skill deficits and official delinquency. The present report extends this body of literature by investigating the relationship between seven measures of skill and official and self-reported delinquency in a nonclinical sample of 70 white male adolescents. Youths classified as delinquent on the basis of prior police contact had a lower multivariate profile on seven measures of academic, interpersonal, and work skills. Five of the seven measures correlated significantly with both the official and self-reported criteria of delinquency. Academic skill deficits may be the strongest covariates of antisocial behavior.

Achievement↗
PubMed1983

Family interactions of assaultive adolescents, stealers, and nondelinquents.

Eleven adolescent chronic offenders apprehended for assaultive crimes in the community were observed in their family homes. This group was matched with 11 adolescents apprehended for stealing and with 11 adolescents with no court contact. Assaultive adolescents, unlike their controls, ranked significantly higher among their own family members in terms of their total aversive behavior in the family home. The results support the notion that assaultive adolescents are more involved with fighting with their siblings in the family home and consequently have had more practice in fighting than their controls, thereby preparing them for assaultive behavior in the community. Assaultive adolescents had more female siblings than male siblings, whereas nondelinquent adolescents had more male than female siblings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

The stability of antisocial and delinquent child behavior: a review.

Studies on the stability of antisocial and delinquent behavior are reviewed, showing that children who initially display high rates of antisocial behavior are more likely to persist in this behavior than children who initially show lower rates of antisocial behavior. Evidence is presented that chronic delinquents, compared with nonchronic or nondelinquent individuals, tend to have been children who were antisocial in more than 1 setting, who displayed a higher variety of antisocial behaviors, and who showed an early onset of such behaviors. Once high levels of antisocial behavior have been established, youths tend to maintain such levels rather than to revert to lower levels of antisocial behavior. Studies suggest that more children drift into higher levels of antisocial behavior than revert to a lower level. Patterns of antisocial behavior tend to change during preadolescence and adolescence: the number of youths who engage in overt antisocial acts (fighting, disobedience, etc.) declines between ages 6 and 16, whereas in that period the number of youths who engage in covert antisocial acts (theft, alcohol and drug use, etc.) increases. Implications are discussed for the early identification of chronic offenders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1971

Engineering the behavioral engineer.

Twenty-eight nursing staff members treated, by operant methods, a simulated headbanging patient. They were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions, involving improvement versus non-improvement of the "patient" and promise of reward versus no promise of reward. The promise of reward significantly improved accuracy of treatment. Improvement of the patient, however, did not improve accuracy.

Journal Article↗