Abstract
Inattentive–hyperactive and oppositional behavior have been hypothesized to be developmental precursors to conduct problems. We tested these hypotheses using a longitudinal sample of 6,466 offspring of women selected from nationally representative US households. Conduct problems across 8–13 years were robustly predicted by conduct problems at 4–7 years, but also were independently predicted to a small extent by both inattentive–hyperactive and oppositional behaviors at 4–7 years. Longitudinal multivariate behavior genetic analyses revealed that the genetic and environmental factors that influence conduct problems at both 4–7 and 8–13 years also influence the putative precursors at 4–7 years. After genetic and environmental influences on conduct problems at 4–7 years were taken into account, however, inattentive–hyperactive and oppositional behavior at 4–7 years shared causal influences with conduct problems 8–13 years to a negligible extent. These findings suggest that after early conduct problems are controlled, little is gained in terms of prediction or understanding genetic and environmental influences on later child conduct problems by treating early inattentive–hyperactive and oppositional behavior as developmental precursors to later conduct problems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. M. (1978). The child behavior profile: I. Boys aged 6–11. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 478–488. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.46.3.478.
Applegate, B., Lahey, B. B., Hart, E. L., Biederman, J., Hynd, G. W., Barkley, R. A., et al. (1997). Validity of the age of onset criterion for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A report from the DSM-IV field trials. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1211–1221. doi:10.1097/00004583-199709000-00013.
August, G. J., & Garfinkel, B. D. (1993). The nosology of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 155–165. doi:10.1097/00004583-199301000-00023.
Avellar, S., & Smock, P. J. (2005). The economic consequences of the dissolution of cohabiting unions. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 67, 315–327. doi:10.1111/j.0022-2445.2005.00118.x.
Biederman, J., Faraone, S. V., Milberger, S., Jetton, J. G., Chen, L., Mick, E., et al. (1996). Is childhood oppositional defiant disorder a precursor to adolescent conduct disorder? Findings from a four-year follow-up of children with ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1193–1204.
Burt, S. A., McGue, M., Krueger, R. F., & Iacono, W. G. (2005). Sources of covariation among the child-externalizing disorders: Informant effects and the shared environment. Psychological Medicine, 35, 1133–1144. doi:10.1017/S0033291705004770.
Carey, G. (2005). Cholesky problems. Behavior Genetics, 35, 653–665. doi:10.1007/s10519-005-5355-9.
Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Mott, F. L., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Phillips, D. A. (1991). Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth: A unique research opportunity. Developmental Psychology, 27, 918–931. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.27.6.918.
Dick, D. M., Viken, R. J., Kaprio, J., Pulkkinen, L., & Rose, R. J. (2005). Understanding the covariation among childhood externalizing symptoms: Genetic and environmental influences on conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 219–229. doi:10.1007/s10802-005-1829-8.
Dominicus, A., Skrondal, A., Gjessing, H. K., Pedersen, N. L., & Palmgren, J. (2006). Likelihood ratio tests in behavioral genetics: Problems and solutions. Behavior Genetics, 36, 331–340. doi:10.1007/s10519-005-9034-7.
D’Onofrio, B. M., Van Hulle, C. A., Waldman, I. D., Rodgers, J. L., Harden, K. P., Rathouz, P. J., et al. (2008). Smoking during pregnancy and offspring externalizing problems: An exploration of genetic and environmental confounds. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 139–164. doi:10.1017/S0954579408000072.
D’Onofrio, B. M., Van Hulle, C. A., Waldman, I. D., Rodgers, J. L., Rathouz, P. J., & Lahey, B. B. (2007). Causal inferences regarding exposure to prenatal alcohol and childhood conduct problems. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 1296–1304. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.11.1296.
Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (2002). Male and female offending trajectories. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 159–177. doi:10.1017/S0954579402001098.
Hechtman, L., Weiss, G., & Perlman, T. (1984). Hyperactives as young adults: Past and current substance abuse and antisocial behavior. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 54, 415–425.
Keenan, K., Wakschlag, L. S., Danis, B., Hill, C., Humphries, M., Duax, J., et al. (2007). Further evidence of the reliability and validity of DSM-IV ODD and CD in preschool children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 457–468. doi:10.1097/CHI.0b013e31803062d3.
Lahey, B. B., Applegate, B., Waldman, I. D., Loft, J. D., Hankin, B. L., & Rick, J. (2004a). The structure of child and adolescent psychopathology: Generating new hypotheses. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 358–385. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.113.3.358.
Lahey, B. B., Loeber, R., Quay, H. C., Applegate, B., Shaffer, D., Waldman, I., et al. (1998). Validity of DSM-IV subtypes of conduct disorder based on age of onset. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 435–442.
Lahey, B. B., McBurnett, K., & Loeber, R. (2000). Are attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder developmental precursors to conduct disorder? In A. Sameroff, M. Lewis, & S. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology (pp. 431–446, 2nd ed.). New York: Plenum.
Lahey, B. B., Pelham, W. E., Loney, J., Kipp, H., Ehrhardt, A., Lee, S. S., et al. (2004b). Three-year predictive validity of DSM-IV attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children diagnosed at 4–6 years of age. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 2014–2020. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.161.11.2014.
Lahey, B. B., Van Hulle, C. A., Waldman, I. D., Rodgers, J. L., D’Onofrio, B. M., Pedlow, S., et al. (2006). Testing descriptive hypotheses regarding sex differences in the development of conduct problems and delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 737–755. doi:10.1007/s10802-006-9064-5.
Lambert, N. M. (1988). Adolescent outcomes for hyperactive children: Perspectives on general and specific patterns of childhood risk for adolescent educational, social, and mental health problems. The American Psychologist, 43, 786–799. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.43.10.786.
Leve, L. D., Kim, H. K., & Pears, K. C. (2005). Childhood temperament and family environment as predictors of internalizing and externalizing trajectories from ages 5 to 17. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 505–520. doi:10.1007/s10802-005-6734-7.
Lilienfeld, S. O., & Waldman, I. D. (1990). The relation between childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and adult antisocial behavior reexamined: The problem of heterogeneity. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 699–725. doi:10.1016/0272-7358(90)90076-M.
Loeber, R. (1988). Behavioral precursors and accelerators of delinquency. In W. Buikhuisen, & S. A. Mednick (Eds.), Explaining criminal behavior (pp. 51–67). Leiden, NE: Brill.
Loeber, R., Green, S. M., Keenan, K., & Lahey, B. B. (1995). Which boys will fare worse? Early predictors of the onset of conduct disorder in a six-year longitudinal study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 499–509.
Loeber, R., Green, S. M., Lahey, B. B., Christ, M. A., & Frick, P. J. (1992). Developmental sequences in the age of onset of disruptive child behaviors. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 1, 21–41. doi:10.1007/BF01321340.
Loehlin, J. C. (1996). The Cholesky approach: A cautionary note. Behavior Genetics, 26, 65–69. doi:10.1007/BF02361160.
Loney, J., Kramer, J., & Milich, R. S. (1981). The hyperactive child grows up: Predictors of symptoms, delinquency, and achievement at follow-up. In K. D. Gadow, & J. Loney (Eds.), Psychosocial aspects of drug treatment for hyperactivity (pp. 381–415). Boulder, CO: Westview.
MacCallum, R. C., Browne, M. W., & Sugawara, H. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modelling. Psychological Methods, 1, 130–149. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.1.2.130.
Magnusson, D. (1984). Early conduct and biological factors in the developmental background of adult delinquency. Henry Tajfel Memorial Lecture, Oxford University. Cited in Loeber, R. (1988). Behavioral precursors and accelerators of delinquency. In W. Buikhuisen, & S. A. Mednick (Eds.), Explaining criminal behavior (pp. 51–67). Leiden: Brill.
Mannuzza, S., Klein, R. G., Abikoff, H., & Moulton, J. L. (2004). Significance of childhood conduct problems to later development of conduct disorder among children with ADHD: A prospective follow-up study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 565–573. doi:10.1023/B:JACP.0000037784.80885.1a.
Mannuzza, S., Klein, R. G., Bessler, A., Malloy, P., & LaPadula, M. (1993). Adult outcome of hyperactive boys: Educational achievement, occupational rank, and psychiatric status. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 565–576.
Mannuzza, S., Klein, R. G., Bonagura, N., Malloy, P., Giampino, T. L., & Addalli, K. A. (1991). Hyperactive boys almost grown up: Replication of psychiatric status. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 77–83.
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.674.
Moffitt, T. E. (2006). Life-course persistent versus adolescence-limited antisocial behavior. In D. Cicchetti, & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental Psychopathology, 2nd Edition (pp. 570–598). New York: Wiley.
Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Dickson, N., Silva, P., & Stanton, W. (1996). Childhood-onset versus adolescent-onset antisocial conduct problems in males: Natural history from ages 3 to 18 years. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 399–424.
Muthén, B., & Muthén, L. (2007). Mplus 4.2. Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.
Nadder, T. S., Rutter, M., Silberg, J. L., Maes, H. H., & Eaves, L. J. (2002). Genetic effects on the variation and covariation of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional-defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) symptomalogies across informant and occasion of measurement. Psychological Medicine, 32, 39–53.
Neale, M. C., & Cardon, L. R. (1992). Methodology for genetic studies of twins and families. Boston: Kluwer.
Peterson, J. L., & Zill, N. (1986). Marital disruption, parent–child relationships, and behavior problems in children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 295–307. doi:10.2307/352397.
Rodgers, J. L., Johnson, A., & Bard, D. E. (2005). NLSY-children/young adult (1986–2002) kinship linking algorithm. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma.
Rodgers, J. L., Rowe, D. C., & Li, C. (1994). Beyond nature versus nurture: DF analysis of nonshared influences on problem behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 30, 374–384. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.30.3.374.
Rowe, R., Maughan, B., Pickles, A., Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (2002). The relationship between DSM-IV oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder: Findings from the Great Smoky Mountains Study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 43, 365–373. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00027.
Satorra, A., & Bentler, P. M. (2001). A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis. Psychometrika, 66, 507–514. doi:10.1007/BF02296192.
Satterfield, J. H., & Schell, A. M. (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. doi:10.1097/00004583-199712000-00021.
Tremblay, R. E. (2004). Decade of behavior distinguished lecture: Development of physical aggression during infancy. Infant Mental Health Journal, 25, 399–407. doi:10.1002/imhj.20015.
Van Hulle, C. A., Rodgers, J. L., D’Onofrio, B. M., Waldman, I. D., & Lahey, B. B. (2007). Sex differences in the causes of self-reported adolescent delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 236–248. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.116.2.236.
Waldman, I. D., Rhee, S. H., Levy, F., & Hay, D. A. (2001). Causes of the overlap among symptoms of ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder. In F. Levy, & D. A. Hay (Eds.), Attention, genes, and ADHD (pp. 115–138). New York: Brunner-Routledge.
Willoughby, M. T., Curran, P. J., Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (2000). Implications of early versus late onset of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 1512–1519. doi:10.1097/00004583-200012000-00013.
Zeger, S. L., & Liang, K.-Y. (1986). Longitudinal data analysis for discrete and continuous outcomes. Biometrics, 42, 121–130. doi:10.2307/2531248.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lahey, B.B., Van Hulle, C.A., Rathouz, P.J. et al. Are Oppositional-Defiant and Hyperactive–Inattentive Symptoms Developmental Precursors to Conduct Problems in Late Childhood?: Genetic and Environmental Links. J Abnorm Child Psychol 37, 45–58 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9257-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9257-1