Objective

Childhood conduct problems are associated with poor functioning in early adulthood. We tested a series of hypotheses to understand the mechanisms underlying this association.

Method

We used data from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a birth cohort of 2,232 twins born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995, followed up to age 18 years with 93% retention. Severe conduct problems in childhood were assessed at ages 5, 7, and 10 years using parent and teacher reports. Poor functioning at age 18 years, including cautions and convictions, daily cigarette smoking, heavy drinking, and psychosocial difficulties, was measured through interviews with participants and official crime record searches.

Results

Participants 18 years old with versus without a childhood history of severe conduct problems had greater rates of each poor functional outcome, and they were more likely to experience multiple poor outcomes. This association was partly accounted for by concurrent psychopathology in early adulthood, as well as by early familial risk factors, both genetic and environmental. Childhood conduct problems, however, continued to predict poor outcomes at age 18 years after accounting for these explanations.

Conclusion

Children with severe conduct problems display poor functioning at age 18 years because of concurrent problems in early adulthood and familial risk factors originating in childhood. However, conduct problems also exert a lasting effect on young people’s lives independent of these factors, pointing to early conduct problems as a target for early interventions aimed at preventing poor functional outcomes.

中文翻译：

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从童年行为问题到18岁以下功能差：纵向队列研究中的解释解释

客观的

儿童行为障碍与成年早期的功能不佳有关。我们测试了一系列假设，以了解这种关联的潜在机制。

方法

我们使用了环境风险（E-Risk）纵向双胞胎研究的数据，该研究是1994年和1995年在英格兰和威尔士出生的2,232对双胞胎的出生队列，随访到18岁，保留率为93％。使用父母和老师的报告评估了5、7和10岁时儿童严重行为问题。通过与参与者的访谈和官方犯罪记录的搜索来衡量18岁以下的机能不佳，包括警告和定罪，每天抽烟，大量饮酒和社会心理困难。

结果

年龄在18岁以下且没有儿童严重行为史的参与者中，每项功能不良的发生率较高，并且他们更有可能经历多种不良后果。成年早期并发的精神病理学以及遗传和环境方面的早期家族性危险因素在一定程度上解释了这种联系。然而，在解释了这些解释之后，在18岁时，儿童行为问题仍继续预示着不良的结果。

结论

有严重品行问题的儿童在18岁时会表现出不良的功能，原因是成年初期同时存在问题以及源自儿童的家族危险因素。但是，行为问题也对年轻人的生活产生了持久的影响，而不受这些因素的影响，这表明早期行为问题是旨在预防不良功能预后的早期干预措施的目标。