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Educational, Psychosocial, and Sexual Outcomes of Girls with Conduct Problems in Early Adolescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2000

David M. Fergusson
Affiliation:
Christchurch Health and Development Study, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand
Lianne J. Woodward
Affiliation:
Christchurch Health and Development Study, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand
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Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which conduct problems at age 13 are associated with a range of educational, psychosocial, and sexual outcomes at age 18 in a birth cohort of 488 young women. Significant associations were found between early adolescent conduct problems and later risks of educational failure, juvenile crime, substance abuse, mental health problems, and adverse sexual outcomes by late adolescence. These elevated risks were explained, in part, by social, family, and personal disadvantages associated with adjustment at age 13. In addition, there was evidence of a causal chain process in which early adolescent conduct problems were associated with a series of adolescent risk-taking behaviours, including delinquent peer affiliations, early-onset sexual behaviour, substance use, and school problems that were, in turn, associated with increased risks of later adverse outcomes.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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