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.

Sex Differences in Antisocial Behaviour: Sex differences in physical violence and sex similarities in partner abuse

Abstract: In the last two chapters we have seen evidence that males are uniformly more antisocial than females. In this chapter we turn our attention more specifically to sex differences in physical violence and aggression. We examine physical violence at different ages and in different settings as measured via multiple data sources: parent and teacher reports of fighting during childhood, informant reports of fighting, self-reports of violent delinquent offending, and official records of convictions for violent offences in adolescence and young adulthood. Females have long been demonstrated to be less violent than males at every age and in every setting. This is true in research conducted by criminologists studying violent crime (Greenfield and Snell, 1999; Kruttschnitt, 1994) and by psychologists studying aggression (Bettencourt and Miller, 1996). This sex difference implicitly has been interpreted to mean that women differ fundamentally from men by lacking the underlying motivation or capacity for violence that men have. Following from this interpretation is the deduction that uncovering the source of the sex difference in antisocial behaviour is the key that will also unlock the secret of what causes male violence. This deduction has directed much scientific attention toward explanatory variables on which men and women differ in fundamental ways, primarily physical strength (Felson, 1996), or hormones such as testosterone (Dabbs and Morris, 1990; Mazur and Booth, 1998).

Observer variance within families: confluence among maternal, paternal and child ratings

Abstract: This paper examines patterns of agreement among different informants within the same family in order to determine the effects of maternal distress on the ratings of mothers and fathers. Mothers, fathers and children from a community cohort of 216 families with 13 to 15 years olds reported children's difficulties and strengths measured by the Rutter Revised Scale. The absolute scores on the children's ratings were higher than those of the fathers and mothers. The odds ratios for agreements between fathers and children ranged between 1.70 and 4.01 and for mother-child agreement between 0.83 and 3.40. There were no significant differences between the mothers and fathers in the extent of their agreement with their children. When mothers were emotionally distressed, there was a significantly higher level of emotional disturbance in the children according to the ratings of both mothers and fathers, but not according to children's ratings. There is value in obtaining paternal, as well as maternal and child, ratings of children's behaviour. Maternal distress affects the ratings of both parents, but not those of the children; the reasons for these effects require further study but they cannot be assumed to reflect rating bias. Copyright © 2001 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

Some of the complexities involved in gene-environment interplay

Abstract: Tabery’s review of the history of disputes over geneenvironment (G x E) interaction provides a splendid, and persuasive, account of the need to consider the fundamental, philosophical differences between a variationpartitioning approach and a mechanism-elucidation approach—the former being exemplified by Fisher and the latter by Hogben. Fisher is rightly described as a giant of 20th century science but, in relation to G x E, it is relevant that his understanding of some aspects of genetics was poor. This is well exemplified by his attack on the claims from Richard Doll that smoking might cause lung cancer. 1 This was based on the factual evidence that there is a substantial heritability to the propensity to smoke cigarettes. Fisher’s mistake was to ignore the fact that the argument that there was no environmental effect of smoking on cancer had to be based on evidence that the liability to smoking was highly correlated with the liability for lung cancer, and this was neither tested nor shown. Tabery says that Hogben was not so well known as Fisher, although he made an equally lasting contribution to science. It is probably true that Fisher was better known among scientists but it is probably equally true that Hogben was better known to the general public. His book published in 1936 Mathematics for the Million was a wonderful example of how the magic of mathematics could be made both understandable and of riveting interest. 2 Albert Einstein

Brief measure of expressed emotion: internal consistency and stability over time.

Abstract: The study examined three methodological aspects of expressed emotion (EE) as assessed in the course of PACE (Psychosocial Assessment of Childhood Experiences) interviews with a parent. In a sample of 87 children, aged 6–13 years, enrolled in a prospective study examining the role of stress on the course of asthma, EE was assessed at three time points, 9 months apart. A high degree of agreement was found among the three concurrent measures of negative and positive EE (kappas from 0.74 to 0.97, and from 0.45 to 0.88, respectively; p ≤ 0.0001 in all instances). The temporal stability of all measures was lower, although statistically significant in all but 2 instances (kappas from 0.19 to 0.59, and from 0.11 to 0.39, respectively). The temporal stability across measures, as well as across interviewers and over time, was broadly similar (kappas from 0.21 to 0.56 for negative EE, and from 0.09 to 0.38 for positive EE, with all but three of the 36 statistically significant). The findings provide support for the underlying assumptions of the PACE-EE and show the utility of measures based on just very brief periods of non-directive interviewing, making them practical in a wide range of studies with EE just one of a larger set of measures. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

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.