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Biomedical subjects

Rolf Loeber

Publications and source records attributed to Rolf Loeber.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Block observations of neighbourhood physical disorder are associated with neighbourhood crime, firearm injuries and deaths, and teen births.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To provide reliability information for a brief observational measure of physical disorder and determine its relation with neighbourhood level crime and health variables after controlling for census based measures of concentrated poverty and minority concentration. DESIGN: Psychometric analysis of block observation data comprising a brief measure of neighbourhood physical disorder, and cross sectional analysis of neighbourhood physical disorder, neighbourhood crime and birth statistics, and neighbourhood level poverty and minority concentration. SETTING: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US (2000 population=334 563). PARTICIPANTS: Pittsburgh neighbourhoods (n=82) and their residents (as reflected in neighbourhood level statistics). MAIN RESULTS: The physical disorder index showed adequate reliability and validity and was associated significantly with rates of crime, firearm injuries and homicides, and teen births, while controlling for concentrated poverty and minority population. CONCLUSIONS: This brief measure of neighbourhood physical disorder may help increase our understanding of how community level factors reflect health and crime outcomes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Violent juvenile sex offenders compared with violent juvenile nonsex offenders: explorative findings from the Pittsburgh Youth Study.

Only a limited number of studies have compared the psychosocial characteristics of juvenile sex offenders and nonsex offenders. The results of these studies have often been contradictory. Furthermore, studies in normal population groups are rare and most of those studies have been conducted in specific populations. This paper reports on the findings of a prospective, longitudinal study, the Pittsburgh Youth Study, in which violent male sex offenders (n = 39) were compared with violent nonsex offenders (n = 430) based on 66 demographic and psychosocial characteristics. The findings show that the sex offenders resembled the nonsex violent offenders with respect to nearly all child, family, peer and demographic risk factors. Some suggestions are made with regard to future research.

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

Gun carrying and conduct disorder: a highly combustible combination? Implications for juvenile justice and mental and public health.

OBJECTIVES: To examine concealed gun carrying between the ages of 12 and 17 years in a population of clinic-referred boys, many of whom qualified for a disruptive behavior disorder, including conduct disorder (CD); to identify factors and diagnoses related to concealed gun carrying; and to examine the extent to which gun carrying is associated with crime in adulthood. DESIGN: Longitudinal follow-up study. SETTING: Pittsburgh, Pa, and Athens and Atlanta, Ga. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred seventy-seven clinic-referred boys, first assessed between the ages of 7 and 12 years and followed up yearly until the age of 19 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Violence, property offenses, and drug charges in adulthood. RESULTS: Between the ages of 12 and 17 years, 1 in 5 participants carried a concealed gun, and the annual prevalence increased linearly with age. More than half (61.1%) carried a gun for 1 year only. Gun carrying was significantly (incident rate ratio, 3.93%; 95% confidence interval, 1.60-9.60) associated with CD. Conduct disorder, maternal psychopathy, victimization, and parental monitoring increased the risk of gun carrying by a factor of 8. Adult crime was best predicted by gun carrying, CD, and parental monitoring. Gun carrying predicted drug charges, but not violence or property offenses. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the carrying of handguns by juveniles is prohibited, young men with symptoms of CD are more likely to carry guns than young men without CD. The findings are discussed in terms of the need for the inclusion of gun carrying among the symptoms of CD.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Is neighborhood context differently related to externalizing problems and delinquency for girls compared with boys?

Although a number of reviews of gender differences in conduct problems and delinquency exist, this paper fills a gap in reviewing neighborhood influences on gender differences in conduct problems and delinquency. These influences are known to be important for boys in childhood and adolescence, but cannot be assumed to be influential in the same manner for girls. The paper starts with several conceptualizations of the association between gender, neighborhoods and juvenile delinquency. It then addresses 4 key questions. Is residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood associated with problem behavior in girls? Are neighborhood effects independent of girls' age? Are girls in disadvantaged neighborhoods exposed to more risk factors than girls in advantaged neighborhoods? Can mediating risk factors explain gender differences in neighborhood effects on children's and adolescents' conduct problems and delinquent behavior? Answers to these questions are important to steer research and elucidate aspects of interventions that can be optimized for girls.

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↗
PubMed2003

Untangling developmental relations between depressed mood and delinquency in male adolescents.

Relations between depressed mood and delinquency were investigated in a longitudinal sample of 506 urban adolescent males across ages 13.5-17.5, while adjusting for common risk factors. Adolescents provided yearly reports of their delinquent activities and depressed mood, as well as reports of peer delinquency at age 13.5 (i.e., baseline). Primary caregivers and teachers provided reports of risk factors for depressed mood and delinquency such as aggressive behavior problems and low academic achievement. Two-level hierarchical generalized linear models of concurrent relations indicated that depressed mood predicted concurrent variety of delinquent acts, and more variety of delinquent acts predicted concurrent depressed mood, even after controlling common risk factors. Longitudinal analyses indicated that after controlling for common risk factors, depressed mood had a more robust effect on delinquency variety trajectories than delinquency variety had on depressed mood trajectories. Time-averaged depressed mood significantly predicted a more positive rate of change in delinquency variety across time. Baseline delinquency variety predicted baseline depressed mood and time-averaged delinquency variety predicted a more positive rate of change in depressed mood; however, both effects were marginally significant. Implications of the results for theory and intervention are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: a six-site, cross-national study.

This study used data from 6 sites and 3 countries to examine the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood and to analyze its linkage to violent and nonviolent offending outcomes in adolescence. The results indicate that among boys there is continuity in problem behavior from childhood to adolescence and that such continuity is especially acute when early problem behavior takes the form of physical aggression. Chronic physical aggression during the elementary school years specifically increases the risk for continued physical violence as well as other nonviolent forms of delinquency during adolescence. However, this conclusion is reserved primarily for boys, because the results indicate no clear linkage between childhood physical aggression and adolescent offending among female samples despite notable similarities across male and female samples in the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Child disobedience and noncompliance: a review.

Child disobedience and noncompliance is a recurring problem frequently brought to the attention of pediatricians and others working with children and their parents. This article reviews empirical studies concerning childhood noncompliance. Definitions of noncompliance (also called disobedience) are presented, and observational studies that have measured noncompliance in the laboratory and at home are reviewed. Studies show considerable variability in the prevalence of noncompliance, but demonstrate that it is a frequent problem for parents. Longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study are presented to more closely examine the onset and stability of noncompliance in childhood and adolescence. Evidence suggests that extreme childhood noncompliance is relatively stable over time, peaking slightly during early adolescence and decreasing during late adolescence. Studies indicate that for some children noncompliance predicts aggression and externalizing problems. Antecedents of noncompliance including parental discipline techniques and child characteristics are reviewed. Parent training programs designed to reduce noncompliance are described, and the effectiveness of such programs is examined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

What are adolescent antecedents to antisocial personality disorder?

BACKGROUND: This paper fills a gap because there are very few studies that prospectively predict antisocial personality disorder (APD) from psychopathology earlier in life in clinic-referred samples of young males. METHOD: The paper addresses the continuity between conduct disorder (CD) and other forms of psychopathology during ages 13 17 and modified APD at ages 18 and 19 (modified to remove the DSM-IV requirement of pre-existing CD by age 15) in the Developmental Trends Study. RESULTS: The results show that 82 90% of APD cases met criteria for CD at least once during ages 13 17, and very few youths who met criteria for ODD during this period progressed to APD without intermediate CD. While CD is a strong predictor of modified APD, when other factors were accounted for in regression analyses, the best predictors were callous/unemotional behaviour, depression and marijuana use. ADHD during ages 13 17 was not significant in the final model. Males with CD during adolescence who progressed to APD tended to commit more violence, as evident from their court records. CONCLUSIONS: Implications are discussed for the conceptualization of developmental models leading to APD, the strengthening of relevant symptoms of CD predictive of APD, and preventive and remedial interventions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

A question for DSM-V: which better predicts persistent conduct disorder--delinquent acts or conduct symptoms?

BACKGROUND: Conduct disorder (CD), a psychiatric index of antisocial behaviour, shares similarities with delinquency, a criminological index. This study sought to examine which factors in childhood predict a repeated diagnosis of CD in adolescence, and whether self-reported delinquent acts enhance the utility of symptoms of CD in predicting later persistent CD. METHOD: Longitudinal data used in this paper come from a clinic-referred sample of 177 boys, along with their parents and teachers, who were assessed using a structured clinical interview. The boys also reported on their delinquent behaviours, as well as a broad range of other family and life events. RESULTS: Before age 13, 77 boys met criteria for CD according to their parent, 69 according to their own report, and 36 reported three or more delinquent acts. Forty-eight boys (29%) met criteria for CD three or more times between 13 and 17. In childhood, delinquency overlapped, but was distinct from CD. Both were present in 28 cases, while 41 cases had CD without delinquency, and eight had delinquency without CD. When tested as predictors of later persistent CD, child-reported CD was the strongest predictor of later persistent CD, but self-reported delinquency was stronger than parent-reported CD. A final model of significant predictors included child-reported CD, delinquency, poor child communication with parents, and maternal prenatal smoking. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that delinquency does add uniquely to the prediction of persistent CD. It may be useful to expand the diagnostic criteria for CD accordingly.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Are within-individual causes of delinquency the same as between-individual causes?

BACKGROUND: Previous studies of the causes of delinquency have been based on between-individual correlations. This paper aims to study the causes of delinquency by comparing within-individual and between-individual correlations of risk factors with delinquency. METHOD: A total of 506 boys in the oldest sample of the Pittsburgh Youth Study were followed up in seven data waves between ages 13.8 and 17.8 on average. RESULTS: Poor parental supervision, low parental reinforcement and low involvement of the boy in family activities were the most important causes of delinquency according to forward-lagged within-individual correlations. Poor housing was positively related to delinquency for boys living in bad neighbourhoods but not for boys living in good neighbourhoods. CONCLUSIONS: Forward-lagged within-individual correlations provide more valid information about the causes of delinquency than do between-individual correlations. Peer delinquency was the strongest correlate of delinquency according to between-individual correlations but was not a cause of delinquency according to forward-lagged within-individual correlations.

Adolescent↗
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↗