The American Journal of Psychiatry
Journal Home Search Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe All APPI Journals Help Contact Us
 
Quicksearch
Advanced Search
Or Search All APPI Journals
This Article
* Full Text (PDF)
* Alert me when this article is cited
* Alert me if a correction is posted
* Citation Map
Services
* Email this article to a Colleague
* Similar articles in this journal
* Similar articles in PubMed
* Alert me to new issues of the journal
* Add to My Articles & Searches
* Download to citation manager
* reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
* Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
* Articles by Luntz, B. K.
* Articles by Widom, C. S.
* Search for Related Content
PubMed
* PubMed Citation
* Articles by Luntz, B. K.
* Articles by Widom, C. S.

Am J Psychiatry 1994; 151:670-674
Copyright © 1994 by American Psychiatric Association


REGULAR ARTICLES

Antisocial personality disorder in abused and neglected children grown up

BK Luntz and CS Widom
University at Albany School of Criminal Justice, NY 12222.

OBJECTIVE: the authors' goal in this study was to examine the extent to which having been abused and/or neglected in childhood raises a person's risk for having an adult DSM-III-R diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. METHOD: Children who had experienced substantiated child abuse and/or neglect from 1967 to 1971 in a Midwestern metropolitan county area were matched on the basis of age, race, sex, and approximate family social class with a group of nonabused and nonneglected children and followed prospectively into young adulthood. Subjects were located and participated in a 2-hour interview consisting of a series of structured and semistructured questions, rating scales, and a psychiatric assessment using the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Interviews were completed with 699 young adult subjects (416 abused and/or neglected and 283 comparison subjects). RESULTS: Childhood victimization was a significant predictor of the number of lifetime symptoms of antisocial personality disorder and of a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, despite the fact that controls for demographic characteristics and arrest history were introduced. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest the importance of inquiring about a patient's childhood history of abuse and/or neglect when antisocial symptoms are evident. In addition to speculation about a possible saturation model for the consequences of childhood victimization, these findings also reinforce a multiple causation model of antisocial personality disorder.





Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 1994 American Psychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us

American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. American Psychiatric Association
1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825, Arlington, VA 22209-3901 * 800-368-5777 * appi at psych.org