Women With Antisocial Behaviour: Long-Term Health Disability and Help-Seeking for Emotional Problems

• NCJ Number: 213962
• Journal: Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: 2006 Pages: 29-42
• Author(s): Kathleen Pajer; Magda Stouthamer-Loeber; William Gardner; Rolf Loeber
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH01285-04; 86-JN-CX-0009
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This study tested for links between antisocial behavior (ASB) and emotional or physical health problems in nonincarcerated women; a second objective was to determine whether any such link could be explained by sociodemographic factors.

Abstract

Out of a sample of 1,218 mothers of boys randomly selected from grades one, four, and seven in U.S. urban public schools in 1987 and 1988, 214 (17.6 percent) met the study's criteria for ASB compared with the women without a history of ASB. The women with ASB were younger, less well educated, of lower socioeconomic status, and with a higher rate of unemployment. They were also more likely to be single mothers. The women with ASB were more likely to have sought help for emotional problems, and they reported higher rates of long-term physical health problems, even when the effects of sociodemographic factors were taken into account. Although findings rule out many sociodemographic factors as direct explanations for the link between ASB and poor emotional and physical health, more work is needed on the nature and extent of antisocial disorder among nonincarcerated women and the existence and the sequence of events connected to emotional and physical health problems. The women in the sample ranged in age from 22 to 59. Baseline data were collected in two waves in 1987 and 1988. The longitudinal study sample was defined and reinterviewed 6 and 12 months later. Data for this study were obtained from the baseline assessment and the 12-month followup. Lifetime maternal ASB was assessed during the 12-month followup. Antisocial behavior was determined by the existence of two behaviors from a checklist based on DSM-III criteria for conduct disorder and a history of police contacts for anything other than traffic violations. Help-seeking for emotional problems was measured by four questions, and physical health was assessed from responses to two questions. 5 tables and 65 references