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Partners, peers, and pathways: Assortative pairing and continuities in conduct disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2009

David Quinton ,
Andrew Pickles ,
Barbara Maughan  and
Michael Rutter
David Quinton*
Affiliation:
MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Andrew Pickles
Affiliation:
MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Barbara Maughan
Affiliation:
MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Michael Rutter
Affiliation:
MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: David Quinton, MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, England.
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Abstract

The role of assortative pairing for conduct problems in the continuity of such problems with pervasive social maladaptation in early adulthood was examined in a general population inner-city sample and a high-risk group (young people raised in children's homes). Previous findings showing a switch out of conduct disorder for those in the high-risk group who had supportive cohabiting relationships in early adulthood were replicated in the general population sample, using a latent class analysis. Conduct-disordered individuals, however, were much less likely to attain supportive relationships. The reasons for this lay in a chain of environmental linkages through which conduct-disordered individuals paired assortatively with those who provided less support. This process involved unsatisfactory parenting environments, a lack of planful competence, and the membership of a deviant peer group. Protection afforded by a stable family life, a nondeviant peer group, and planful behavior reduced the risks of assortative pairing. The linking processes appeared to be the same for the general population and the high-risk samples, although having been in the children's homes related to an increased risk of a lack of support, even when the linking processes were taken into account.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , Fall 1993 , pp. 763 - 783
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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