Research has long suggested comorbidity between mental health and poor life course outcomes such as delinquency. The early identification of mental illness in youths is an important goal for researchers examining the relationship between mental disorder and offending. The present study examined the comorbidity of various mental health problems such as anxiety, affective, attention deficit/hyperactivity, somatic, and oppositional defiant problems and their effect on offending in youths participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Innovative Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)—oriented scales that allow for distinctions between normal, borderline, and clinical levels of mental health problems were used in logistic regressions to predict the odds of offending across four stages of development. Findings showed a consistent pattern across the life course of oppositional defiant problems increasing the likelihood of future property and violent offending. Furthermore, the value of using DSM-oriented scales was demonstrated. Implications for future studies and policy are discussed.
Achenbach, T.M. (1991a). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 and 1991 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
2.
Achenbach, T.M. (1991b). Manual for the Youth Self-Report and 1991 profile . Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
3.
Achenbach, T.M. (1992). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 and 1992 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
4.
Achenbach, T.M. (1997). Young Adult Self-Report. Burlington : University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
5.
Achenbach, T.M. (2009). Some needed changes in DSM-V: But what about children?Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 16, 50-53.
6.
Achenbach, T.M., Bernstein, A., & Dumenci, L. (2005). DSM-oriented scales and statistically based syndromes for ages 18 to 59: Linking taxonomic paradigms to facilitate multitaxonomic approaches. Journal of Personality Assessment, 84, 49-63.
7.
Achenbach, T.M., Dumenci, L., & Rescorla, L.A. (2002). Ten-year comparisons of problems and competencies for national sample of youth: Self, parent and teacher reports. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 10, 194-203.
8.
Achenbach, T.M., & Edelbrock, C.S. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington : University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
9.
Achenbach, T.M., McConaughy, S.H., & Howell, C.T. (1987). Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: Implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 213-232.
10.
Achenbach, T.M., & Rescorla, L.A. (2001). Manual for ASEBA school-age forms & profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families .
11.
Achenbach, T.M., & Rescorla, L.A. (2003). Manual for ASEBA adult forms & profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families .
12.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
13.
Angold, A., Costello, E.J., Farmer, E., Burns, B., & Erkanli, A. (1999). Impaired but undiagnosed. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 129-137.
14.
Barker, E.T., Bornstein, M.H., Putnick, D.L., Hendricks, C., & Suwalsky, J.T.D. (2007). Adolescent-mother agreement about adolescent problem behaviors: Direction and predictors of disagreement . Journal of Youth Adolescence, 36, 950-962.
15.
Barkley, R.A., Fischer, M., Smallish, L., & Fletcher, K. (2004). Young adult follow-up of hyperactive children: Antisocial activities and drug use. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 195-211.
16.
Beauchaine, T.P. (2003). Taxometrics and developmental psychopathology . Development and Psychopathology, 15, 501-527.
17.
Boots, D.P. (2008). Mental health and violent youth: A developmental/lifecourse perspective. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing.
18.
Borum, R., & Verhaagen, D. (2006). Assessing and managing violence risk in juveniles . New York: Guilford.
19.
Connor, D.F. (2002). Aggression and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: Research and treatment. New York: Guilford.
20.
Dahlberg, L.L., & Potter, L.B. (2001). Youth violence: Developmental pathways and prevention challenges. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 20(Suppl. 1), 3-14.
21.
Drabick, D.A.G. (2009). Can a developmental psychopathology perspective facilitate a paradigm shift toward a mixed categorical-dimensional classification system?Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 16, 41-49.
22.
Duhig, A.M., Renk, K., Epstein, M.K., & Phares, V. (2000). Interparental agreement on internalizing, externalizing, and total behavior problems: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 7, 435-453.
Edelbrock, C., Costello, A.J., Dulcan, M.K., Calabro, C.N., & Kala, R. (1986). Parent-child agreement on child psychiatric symptoms assessed via structured interview. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 181-190.
25.
Elbogen, E.B., & Johnson, S.C. (2009). The intricate link between violence and mental disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 152-161.
26.
Farrington, D.P. (2005). Integrated developmental & life-course theories of offending: Advances in criminological theory (Vol. 14). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
27.
Farrington, D.P., Jolliffe, D., Hawkins, J.D., Catalano, R.F., Hill, K.G., & Kosterman, R. (2003). Comparing delinquency careers in court records and self-reports. Criminology, 41, 933-958.
28.
Fox, J. (1991). Regression diagnostics. Quantitative applications in the social sciences series (07-079). Newbury Park, CA : Sage.
29.
Frances, A.J., Pincus, H.A., Widiger, T.A., Davis, W.W., & First, M.B. (1990). DSM-IV: Work in progress. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1439-1448.
30.
Goldstein, N.E.S., Olubadewo O., Redding R.E., & Lexcen, F.J. (2005). Mental health disorders: The neglected risk factor in juvenile delinquency. In K. Heilbrun, N. E. S. Goldstein, & R. E. Redding (Eds.), Juvenile delinquency: Prevention, assessment, and intervention (pp. 85-110). New York: Oxford University Press.
31.
Grietens, H., Onghena, P., Prinzie, P., Gadeyen, E., Van Assche, V., Ghesquiere, P., et al. (2004). Comparison of mothers', fathers', and teachers' reports on problem behavior in 5- and 6-year-old children. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26, 137-146.
32.
Jensen, P.S. (1995). Discussion: Scales versus categories? Never play against a stacked deck. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 485-487.
33.
Kerr, D.C.R., Lunkenheimer, E.S., & Olson, S.L. (2007). Assessment of child problem behaviors by multiple informants: A longitudinal study from preschool to school entry. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 967-975.
34.
Kirk, D.S. (2006). Examining the divergence across self-report and official data sources on inferences about the adolescent life-course of crime . Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 22, 107-129.
35.
Loeber, R. (2004). Delinquency prevention in a mental health context . Utrecht, the Netherlands: Trimbos Institute.
36.
Loeber, R., & Farrington, D. P. (Eds.). (1998). Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
37.
Loeber, R., & Farrington, D.P. (2000). Young children who commit crime: Epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 737-762.
38.
Loeber, R., & Farrington, D. P. (Eds.). (2001). Child delinquents: Development, intervention, and service needs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
39.
Loeber, R., Farrington, D.P., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., & Van Kammen, W.B. (1998). Antisocial behavior and mental health problems. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
40.
Loeber, R., Farrington, D.P., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., & White, H.R. (2008). Violence and serious theft. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
41.
Lynam, D.R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T.E., Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (2007). Longitudinal evidence that psychopathy scores in early adolescence predict adult psychopathy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 155-165.
42.
Maser, J.D., Norman, S.B., Zisook, S., Everall, I.P., Stein, M.B., Schettler, P.J., et al. (2009). Psychiatric nosology is ready for a paradigm shift in DSM-V. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 16, 24-40.
Millon, T. (1996). Disorders of personality: DSM-IV and beyond. New York: John Wiley.
45.
Molnar, B.E., Roberts, A.L., Browne, A., Gardener, H., & Buka, S.L. (2005). What girls need: Recommendations for preventing violence among urban girls in the US. Social Science and Medicine , 60, 2191-2204.
46.
Moreland, A.D., & Dumas, J.E. (2008). Categorical and dimensional approaches to the measurement of disruptive behavior in the preschool years: A meta-analysis . Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1059-1070.
47.
Patel, V., Flisher, A.J., Hetrick, S., & McGorry, P. (2007). Mental health of young people: A global public-health challenge. Lancet, 369, 1302-1313.
48.
Raudenbush, S.L., & Earls, F.J. (2000). Assessing exposure to violence using multiple informants: Application of hierarchical linear model. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 1049-1056.
49.
Reiss, A.J. (1961). Occupations and social status. New York: Free Press.
50.
Rutter, M., & Sroufe, L. (2000). The role of context in the development of psychopathology: A conceptual framework and some speculative propositions. Child Development, 71, 66-74.
51.
Sampson, R.J. (1997). Collective regulation of adolescent misbehavior: Validation results from eighty Chicago neighborhoods. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 227-244.
52.
Sampson, R.J., Raudenbush, S.W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918-924.
53.
Satterfield, J.H., & Schell, A. (1997). A prospective study of hyperactive boys with conduct problems and normal boys: Adolescent and adult criminality. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1726-1735.
54.
Spatola, C.A., Gagnani, C., Pesenti-Gritti, P., Ogliari, A., Stazi, M., & Battaglia, M. (2007). A General population twin study of the CBCL/6-18 DSM-oriented scales. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 619-627.
55.
Teplin, L.A., Abram, K.M., McClelland, G.M., Mericle, A.A., Dulcan M. K., & Washburn, J.J. (2006). Psychiatric disorders of youth in detention. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
56.
Vermeiren, R. (2003). Psychopathology and delinquency in adolescents: A descriptive and developmental perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 277-318.
57.
Widiger, T.A. (2005). Dimensional classification of adult psychopathology: A brief commentary on Achenbach, Bernstein, and Dumenci. Journal of Personality Assessment, 84, 64-65.
