Michael Rutter

Bio: Michael Rutter is an academic researcher from King's College London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Autism & Conduct disorder. The author has an hindex of 188, co-authored 676 publications receiving 151592 citations. Previous affiliations of Michael Rutter include VCU Medical Center & Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

Maternal deprivation 1972-1978: new findings, new concepts, new approaches.

Abstract: Research since 1972 in the field of "maternal deprivation" is critically reviewed. The results are used to reassess briefly the formulations proposed in 1972 and to discuss more fully the meaning and practical implications of fresh findings on new or recently revived topics. These include the development of social relationships and the process of bonding, critical periods of development, the links between childhood experiences and parenting behavior, influences on parenting, and the possible reasons why so many children do not succumb to deprivation or disadvantage.

Assessment of the within-family environment in twins: absolute versus differential ratings, and relationship with conduct problems.

Abstract: Background: The aim was to compare the psychometric properties of absolute versus differential ratings of the within-family environments and to examine their associations with conduct problems in 8–16-year-old twins. Methods: The sample comprised 1117 pairs of like-sex male and female twins and their parents, recruited from the school population of Virginia. The within-family environment was assessed from the Twin Inventory of Relationships and Experiences (TIRE), which provided measures of differential parental criticism, parental preference for one twin, and twins' peers' conduct problems, as rated by mothers, fathers and each of the twins. Twins' conduct problems were assessed by a modified version of the Olweus questionnaire. Results: Although differential ratings and absolute ratings had similar psychometric properties, the use of absolute ratings to differentiate the twins resulted in a construct with weak inter-rater agreement and low stability over time. Differential ratings of the twins' environment showed significant associations with differences in conduct problems between the twins, whereas the difference in absolute ratings of each twin did not. The differential parental criticism effect was uninfluenced by the overall level of criticism in the family. Conclusions: A direct contrast between siblings or twins, as part of the rating procedure (as provided by differential ratings), may be a more efficient way to assess aspects of the within-family environment that are reliable and which are associated with psychopathology. Both differential parental criticism and peers' conduct disturbance were associated with conduct problems in the twins. TIRE: Twin Inventory of Relationships and Experiences; VTSABD: Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development

Explanations for Apparent Late Onset Criminality in a High-Risk Sample of Children Followed up in Adult Life

Abstract: We examined the psychiatric and forensic histories of 13 individuals whose first officially recorded criminal conviction took place after their 22nd birthday, and compared the levels of disturbance among that group with those from the same high-risk sample who had (a) no recorded convictions, (b) convictions only up to age 21, and (c) convictions before and after age 22. Among the 13 with recorded convictions only after age 22, there was evidence of at least minor juvenile delinquency in every case but one, and of major adult mental illness whose onset preceded first conviction in four cases. Levels of childhood antisocial behaviours were significantly higher among that group than among those who had never been convicted, and levels of major mental illness were significantly higher than among those who had never been convicted and those with convictions only up to age 21. Apparent late onset criminality in the present sample was therefore associated with known risk factors for adult criminality, in the form of juvenile antisocial behaviour and/or major mental illness. Officially recorded criminality consistently shows a small but significant number of individuals whose criminal activity appears to begin relatively late in life, that is after adolescence. In one large follow-up of unselected schoolchildren in Sweden, for example, 25 per cent of the males with a criminal record had their first conviction aged 21 or older. Among the females, 52 per cent of those with a criminal record had their first conviction at 21 or older (Stattin et al. 1989). The number of males with registered criminality only after age 21 (64 out of 709) was smaller by comparison with other groups of offenders than would be predicted from a random model (Stattin and Magnusson 1996), but still represented 9 per cent of the total male sample. In another unselected birth cohort of over 6,000 females born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1953, criminal records data revealed that 237 individuals had their first criminal registration after age 18. At 3.5 per cent of the total sample this was the largest group of offenders, compared with those who began offending before age 15 and persisted throughout life, those who offended only during adolescence, and those who offended in a less persistent way before and after age 18 (Kratzer and Hodgins 1996). Similar proportions with apparent late onset criminality have been found among groups who would be expected to be at higher risk for criminality, like clinic samples and those enrolled in social interventions. In McCord’s (1978) follow-up of 506 boys in the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study, 41 of the 317 boys (13 per cent) with no official juvenile record of delinquency were convicted of serious crimes as adults, with few

Diagnosis and Subclassification of Autism

Abstract: Since Kanner first described the syndrome of autism in 1943, there has been substantial progress in the diagnosis and classification of the disorder (see chapter by Rutter and Schopler, this volume). As a result, both ICD-9 (World Health Organization, 1978) and DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980), the two major systems of psychiatric classification, broadly agree on the main features to be taken into account in diagnosis. In essence, the main weight is placed on a particular type of deviance in language, a particular type of deviance in social relationships, and particular patterns of repetitive and stereotyped behaviour, together with developmental abnormalities that have been evident from before the age of 30 months. The recently published guidelines for DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) and the draft guidelines for ICD-10 (World Health Organization, 1987) follow the same general principles, although both have attempted to provide somewhat greater specification on the patterns of abnormality in these areas that are thought to be most characteristic of autism. In addition, because of practical difficulties in the application of the 30-month cutoff for developmental abnormalities, this has been raised to 3 years of age. Most of the published interview, questionnaire, and observational methods of assessment (see Rutter and Schopler, Chapter 2, this volume) have focused similarly on these diagnostic features, although they differ somewhat in their emphasis. Most have been primarily concerned with the diagnosis of autism in mentally handicapped children, as the majority of autistic individuals show some degree of mental retardation. The instruments have been developed with the main aim of making diagnoses for treatment purposes or for decisions on placement in different service facilities. The instruments work reasonably well in meeting these objectives, but there are now new purposes that require some modification in methods of assessment. This chapter describes some measures developed to meet these emerging needs.

The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.

Abstract: A hypothesized need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships is evaluated in light of the empirical literature. The need is for frequent, nonaversive interactions within an ongoing relational bond. Consistent with the belongingness hypothesis, people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds. Belongingness appears to have multiple and strong effects on emotional patterns and on cognitive processes. Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being. Other evidence, such as that concerning satiation, substitution, and behavioral consequences, is likewise consistent with the hypothesized motivation. Several seeming counterexamples turned out not to disconfirm the hypothesis. Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A Research Note

Abstract: A novel behavioural screening questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), was administered along with Rutter questionnaires to parents and teachers of 403 children drawn from dental and psychiatric clinics. Scores derived from the SDQ and Rutter questionnaires were highly correlated; parent-teacher correlations for the two sets of measures were comparable or favoured the SDQ. The two sets of measures did not differ in their ability to discriminate between psychiatric and dental clinic attenders. These preliminary findings suggest that the SDQ functions as well as the Rutter questionnaires while offering the following additional advantages: a focus on strengths as well as difficulties; better coverage of inattention, peer relationships, and prosocial behaviour; a shorter format; and a single form suitable for both parents and teachers, perhaps thereby increasing parent-teacher correlations.

Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication

Abstract: Background Little is known about the general population prevalence or severity of DSM-IV mental disorders. Objective To estimate 12-month prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of DSM-IV anxiety, mood, impulse control, and substance disorders in the recently completed US National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Design and Setting Nationally representative face-to-face household survey conducted between February 2001 and April 2003 using a fully structured diagnostic interview, the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Participants Nine thousand two hundred eighty-two English-speaking respondents 18 years and older. Main Outcome Measures Twelve-month DSM-IV disorders. Results Twelve-month prevalence estimates were anxiety, 18.1%; mood, 9.5%; impulse control, 8.9%; substance, 3.8%; and any disorder, 26.2%. Of 12-month cases, 22.3% were classified as serious; 37.3%, moderate; and 40.4%, mild. Fifty-five percent carried only a single diagnosis; 22%, 2 diagnoses; and 23%, 3 or more diagnoses. Latent class analysis detected 7 multivariate disorder classes, including 3 highly comorbid classes representing 7% of the population. Conclusion Although mental disorders are widespread, serious cases are concentrated among a relatively small proportion of cases with high comorbidity.

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy.

Abstract: This chapter suggests that delinquency conceals two distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: A small group engages in antisocial behavior of one sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence. According to the theory of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior, children's neuropsychological problems interact cumulatively with their criminogenic environments across development, culminating m a pathological personality. According to the theory of adolescence-limited antisocial behavior, a contemporary maturity gap encourages teens to mimic antisocial behavior in ways that are normative and adjustive. There are marked individual differences in the stability of antisocial behavior. The chapter reviews the mysterious relationship between age and antisocial behavior. Some youths who refrain from antisocial behavior may, for some reason, not sense the maturity gap and therefore lack the hypothesized motivation for experimenting with crime.