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.

Annual Research Review: Threats to the validity of child psychiatry and psychology

Abstract: Background Suggestions have been made that many claims concern false-positive findings in the field of child psychology and psychiatry. Findings The literature was searched for concepts and findings on the validity of child psychiatry and psychology. Substantial progress has been made in some, but not all, areas and considerable challenges remain in all. Conclusions The two major threats to validity concern the inability to examine brain tissues in life and the evidence that there is a high overlap among disorders. We emphasize the need to follow published guidelines on preplanned analyses and we note the dangers associated with unregulated flexibility in data analysis. We note the very important clinical and developmental findings that have been ignored, perhaps partly because of an excessive focus on technologies. Nevertheless, we are positive about both the accomplishments and the ways in which challenges are being met.

Factor Structure of Autistic Traits in Children with ADHD

Abstract: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often co-occur. Factor analyses of ASD traits in children with and without ASD indicate the presence of social and restrictive–repetitive behaviour (RRB) factors. This study used exploratory factor analyses to determine the structure of ASD traits (assessed using the Social Communication Questionnaire) in children with ADHD. Distinct factors were observed for ‘social’ and ‘rigidity’ traits, corresponding to previous factor analyses in clinical ASD and population samples. This indicates that the split between social-communicative and RRB dimensions is unaffected by ADHD in children. Moreover, the study also finds that there is some overlap across hyperactive-impulsive symptoms and RRB traits in children with ADHD, which merits further investigation.

Changing adolescence : social trends and mental health

Abstract: Foreword by Professor Sir Michael Rutter Introduction~ Ann Hagell Time trends in young people's emotional and behavioural problems, 1975-2005 Stephan Collishaw Stress and mental health in adolescence: interrelationship and time trends ~ Ann Hagell, Seija Sandberg and Robert MacDonald Trends in time adolescent time use in the United Kingdom ~ Ann Hagell, Stephen Peck, Nicole Zarrett, J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal and Jennifer Symonds Trends in parenting: can they help explain time trends in problem behaviour? ~ Frances Gardner, Stephan Collishaw, Barbara Maughan, Jacqueline Scott, Karen Schepman and Ann Hagell Educational changes and possible links with adolescent well-being: 1970s to 2000s Ann Hagell, John Gray, Maurice Galton and Colleen McLaughlin Trends in adolescent substance use, and their implications for understanding trends in mental health ~ Ann Hagell, Judith Aldridge, Petra Meier, Tim Millar, Jennifer Symonds and Michael Donmall Some thoughts on the broader context: neighbourhoods and peers ~ Ann Hagell, Sarah Curtis, Shari Daya, Yasmin Khatib, Rachel Pain, Catherine Rothon, Stephen Stansfeld and Sara Fuller Reflections and implications ~ Ann Hagell and Sharon Witherspoon

Poor readers in secondary school

Abstract: A follow-up of a representative sample of poor readers through secondary schooling confirmed persisting reading problems for most children. As a group, poor readers fell further behind a normal-reading comparison group during their early teens. Later reading progress was unrelated to gender, SES background, behavior problems or non-school attendance, though these factors did influence wider school attainments. Poor readers were more likely to leave school early, and had much depressed educational qualifications. There were no differences in the reading progress or academic attainments of specifically retarded (IQ-discrepant) and generally backward poor readers.

Practitioner review : Routes from research to clinical practice in child psychiatry : Retrospect and prospect

Abstract: The last 40 years has seen a virtual revolution in both medical research and medical practice. Child psychiatry has been part of that revolution. The situation in the 1950s is briefly noted and seven examples are used to illustrate how causal research in the past has led to changes in clinical practice. The areas used as examples comprise: autism, hyperactivity/attention deficit syndromes, conduct disorders, depressive conditions, genetic research, organic brain dysfunction, and psychosocial risk processes. Prospects for the future with respect to the impact of research on clinical practice are discussed in relation to molecular genetics, environmental risks, cognitive and affective processing of experiences, links across the lifespan, and functional brain imaging. Attention is drawn to implications for training as well as for practice.

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.