Showing papers by "Michael Rutter published in 1986"

Agreement between teachers' ratings and observations of hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and defiance.

Abstract: The relationship of directly observed classroom behavior and teacher ratings on questionnaires with a judgmental (Conners Teacher Rating Scale) or operational format was examined for 33 boys aged 6 years 5 months to 7 years 7 months. Results showed a high degree of association between observed and rated behavior. This association did not vary with the format of the rating scales but did vary with the nature of the behavior being rated. Defiance was more reliably rated than hyperactivity or inattentiveness. Several behaviors exerted a halo effect on ratings of hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and behavior problems. In particular, defiance toward a teacher increased the likelihood that a child would be rated as hyperactive or inattentive regardless of his observed level of activity or attentiveness. These results support the validity of behavior rating scales as screening measures for hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and defiance and indicate that a child's defiance and disobedience are significant causes of misclassification.

Meyerian psychobiology, personality development, and the role of life experiences.

Abstract: The psychobiological life history approach to psychiatry is perhaps the most important of Adolf Meyer’s contributions to psychiatric thinking. The author outlines the implications of that approach for current concepts and practice. He reviews the literature regarding the causative role of life experiences in the genesis of psychiatric disorder, the extent to which the effects of stressors are situation-specific, the effects of stress on the organism, the reason for individual variations in the response to stress, and the causes of life stressors. (Am JPsychiatry143:1077-1087, 1986)

Conduct disorder and hyperactivity: II. A cluster analytic approach to the identification of a behavioural syndrome.

Abstract: Sixty boys, aged from 6 to 10 years, were studied after their referral to psychiatric clinics for antisocial or disruptive behaviour. Their scores on reliable measures of hyperactivity, defiant behaviour, emotional disorder and attention deficit were taken for the home, school and clinic settings; and subjected to two techniques of cluster analysis. Both gave a similar set of clusters, one of which had high scores on all measures of hyperactivity and attention deficit. Membership of this cluster was associated with a lower IQ, a younger age of problem onset and referral, an abnormal neurological examination, a history of developmental delay, smaller family size, poor peer relationships and a high rate of accidental injuries; and it predicted a good response to stimulant medication in a controlled trial. Other research on the classification of hyperactivity is discussed, and proposals are made for the criteria of a rather narrow definition of 'hyperkinetic conduct disorder'.

Child psychiatry: looking 30 years ahead.

Abstract: The likely developments over the next 30 years in the understanding of disorders and in patterns of clinical practice in child psychiatry are considered in the light of basic biological principles, the current knowledge base and the prevailing trends of change. Attention is paid to possible advances in genetics, biological investigations, cognitive deficits and cognitive processing, psychosocial mechanisms, treatment strategies, classification, theories, patterns of practice and child psychiatric training.

Child psychiatry: the interface between clinical and developmental research.

Abstract: Developmental psychopathology constitutes a research strategy that is concerned with questions about continuities and discontinuities over time (the developmental perspective) and over the span of behavioural variation (the psychopathological perspective). The utility of this approach is discussed in relation to childhood depression, autism and schizophrenia, and the effects of adverse life experiences.

Black pupils' progress in secondary schools: II. Examination attainments

Abstract: This study explores the examination attainments of black pupils of West Indian origin and their white peers attending the same inner London secondary schools. At 16, black pupils were underrepresented in the highest exam pass grades, but more likely than whites to have achieved at least some graded results. Viewed against the background of earlier assessed attainments, results did not differ significantly between ethnic groups. By the time that they left school black pupils, and especially black girls, had improved their relative position to a considerable extent. This largely reflected the increased participation of black pupils in the examination system.