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.

Genetics and Developmental Psychopathology: 2. The Main Effects of Genes and Environment on Behavioral Problems in the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development

Abstract: Little is known about the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to risk for juvenile psychopathology. The Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development allows these contributions to be estimated. A population-based, unselected sample of 1412 Caucasian twin pairs aged 8-16 years was ascertained through Virginia schools. Assessment of the children involved semi-structured face-to-face interviews with both twins and both parents using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA). Self-report questionnaires were also completed by parents, children, and teachers. Measures assessed DSM-III-R symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Overanxious Disorder, Separation Anxiety, and Depressive Disorder. Factorially derived questionnaire scales were also extracted. Scores were normalized and standardized by age and sex. Maximum likelihood methods were used to estimate contributions of additive and nonadditive genetic effects, the shared and unique environment, and sibling imitation or contrast effects. Estimates were tested for heterogeneity over sexes. Generally, monozygotic (MZ) twins correlated more highly than dizygotic (DZ) twins, parental ratings more than child ratings, and questionnaire scales more highly than interviews. DZ correlations were very low for measures of ADHD and DZ variances were greater than MZ variances for these variables. Correlations sometimes differed between sexes but those for boy-girl pairs were usually similar to those for like-sex pairs. Most of the measures showed small to moderate additive genetic effects and moderate to large effects of the unique individual environment. Measures of ADHD and related constructs showed marked sibling contrast effects. Some measures of oppositional behavior and conduct disorder showed shared environmental effects. There were marked sex differences in the genetic contribution to separation anxiety, otherwise similar genetic effects appear to be expressed in boys and girls. Effects of rater biases on the genetic analysis are considered. The study supports a widespread influence of genetic factors on risk to adolescent psychopathology and suggests that the contribution of different types of social influence may vary consistently across domains of measurement.

Annual Research Review: Resilience--Clinical Implications.

Abstract: Background: It is a universal finding that there is huge heterogeneity in people’s responses to all kinds of stress and adversity. Resilience is an interactive phenomenon that is inferred from findings indicating that some individuals have a relatively good outcome despite having experienced serious adversities. Methods: Resilience can only be inferred if there has been testing of environmental mediation of risks and quantification of the degree of risk. The use of ‘natural experiments’ to test environmental mediation is briefly discussed. The literature is then reviewed on features associated with resilience in terms of (a) those that are neutral or risky in the absence of the risk experience (such as adoption); (b) brief exposure to risks and inoculation effects; (c) mental features (such as planning, self-regulation or a sense of personal agency); (d) features that foster those mental features; (e) turning point effects; (f) gene-environment interactions; (g) social relationships and promotive effects; and (h) the biology of resilience. Results: Clinical implications are considered with respect to (a) conceptual implications; (b) prevention; and (c) treatment. Conclusion: Resilience findings do not translate into a clear programme of prevention and treatment, but they do provide numerous leads that focus on the dynamic view of what may be involved in overcoming seriously adverse experiences.

Maternal expressed emotion predicts children's antisocial behavior problems: using monozygotic-twin differences to identify environmental effects on behavioral development.

Abstract: If maternal expressed emotion is an environmental risk factor for children's antisocial behavior problems, it should account for behavioral differences between siblings growing up in the same family even after genetic influences on children's behavior problems are taken into account. This hypothesis was tested in the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study with a nationally representative 1994-1995 birth cohort of twins. The authors interviewed the mothers of 565 five-year-old monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs and established which twin in each family received more negative emotional expression and which twin received more warmth. Within MZ pairs, the twin receiving more maternal negativity and less warmth had more antisocial behavior problems. Qualitative interviews were used to generate hypotheses about why mothers treat their children differently. The results suggest that maternal emotional attitudes toward children may play a causal role in the development of antisocial behavior and illustrate how genetically informative research can inform tests of socialization hypotheses.

A Five- to Fifteen-Year Follow-up Study of Infantile Psychosis

Abstract: The 63 children with infantile psychosis who attended the Maudsley Hospital between 1950 and 1958 were individually matched for age, sex, IQ and year of attendance with a control group of clinic children with non-psychotic disorders. Both groups were re-examined in 1963-1964 and given individual psychiatric, neurological, social and psychological assessments. The IQ of the psychotic children at first hospital attendance (mean age 5 years 11 months) was correlated highly (o.63-o.74) with the level of intelligence and social maturity at follow-up (mean age 15 years 7 months). The results for the controls were closely similar. The age of the child at initial testing, the sex, whether or not the onset of psychosis had been preceded by a short period of normal development, and the presence of organic brain pathology were all unrelated to individual changes in IQ. Children who had no useful speech when they were first tested, and children who had been cared for in long-stay institutions, tended to have an SQ at follow-up well below their initial IQ. There was a non-significant tendency for a similar trend in children with an IQ of 59 or less. Also, there was some suggestion that an IQ based on only a few sub-tests tended to give an overestimate of later functioning. Of the 19 children who were initially untestable, 18 were untestable on the Wechsler Scales at follow-up and had an SQ below 50. The only exception was a child who, although untestable, had an SQ of 60 when first seen. It was concluded that the IQ is a most useful predictor of later development in psychotic children. A quarter of both the psychotics and the controls were reading at an eight-year level or better. The level of achievement in reading was correlated with IQ but in both groups the level of reading was somewhat below that expected on the basis of IQ and chronological age. It was suggested that inadequate schooling, language retardation, and disturbed behaviour all contributed to the educational retardation. Further provision of special schooling is indicated.

Sex Differences in Developmental Reading Disability: New Findings From 4 Epidemiological Studies.

Abstract: ContextAn influential article published in 1990 claimed that the increased rate of reading disability in boys was a consequence of referral biasObjectivesTo summarize the history of research on sex differences in reading disability and to provide new evidence from 4 independent epidemiological studies about the nature, extent, and significance of sex differences in reading disabilityDesign, Setting, and ParticipantsThe Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study comprised 989 individuals (521% male) in a cohort born between April 1972 and March 1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand, and followed up from age 3 years; reading performance and IQ were assessed at ages 7, 9, and 11 years using the Burt Word Reading Test and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Revised (WISC-R), respectively The Christchurch Health and Development Study comprised 895 individuals (50% male) in a prospectively studied cohort born in the Christchurch, New Zealand, region during a 4-month period in 1977; reading performance and IQ were assessed at ages 8 to 10 years using the Burt Word Reading Test and the WISC-R The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Study comprised a UK nationally representative sample of 5752 children (501% male) aged 9 to 15 years in 1999; reading was assessed on the British Ability Scales II and IQ on the British Picture Vocabulary Scales II The Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study (E-Risk) comprised 2163 twin children from England and Wales (491% male) identified at birth in 1994 and 1995 and included administration of the Test of Word Reading Efficiency at age 7 years and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence–Revised as a test of IQ at age 5 yearsMain Outcome MeasureReading performance by sex in the lowest 15% of the distribution for all 4 studies, with and without taking IQ into accountResultsIn all 4 studies, the rates of reading disability were significantly higher in boys For non–IQ-referenced reading disability: Dunedin study, 216% in boys vs 79% in girls (odds ratio [OR], 319; 95% confidence interval [CI], 215-417); Christchurch study, 206% in boys vs 98% in girls (OR, 238; 95% CI, 162-350); ONS study, 176% in boys vs 130% in girls (OR, 143; 95% CI, 123-165); and E-Risk, 180% in boys vs 130% in girls (OR, 139; 95% CI, 104-186) The rates for IQ-referenced reading disabilities were similarConclusionReading disabilities are clearly more frequent in boys than in girls

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.