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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.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Early reading performance was associated with the experience of being raised 'in care' but was not an inevitable outcome, and it was concluded that the type of substitute caregiving experienced affected reading performance.
Abstract: Background: Recent government papers have expressed concern about the poor educational attainment of ‘looked after’ children Early reading development has been found to be significant in their subsequent academic achievement The possibility that biosocial factors extraneous to their experiences in public care may underpin their low attainment has not been investigated to date Methods: The reading ability of 19 primary school children, who had been raised in institutional care from an early age, were compared with 19 children, matched for age and sex, who were comparable in biological background and who had experienced uninterrupted family foster care Both groups were compared with classroom controls using teacher questionnaires, interviews, systematic observations and cognitive testing Results: Reading delay was more prevalent in the institutional group and as a group they had lower reading scores than the children reared in family foster care Variation in IQ accounted for the lower reading scores of the family foster care group compared with their matched classroom controls Inattention, found in a previous study to be much more evident in the institutional group, partially accounted for the group difference in reading scores, and was situationally specific to formal teacher-directed tasks Differential effects of caregivers’ interest in terms of help with homework were also found Conclusions: Early reading performance was associated with the experience of being raised ‘in care’ but was not an inevitable outcome It was concluded that the type of substitute caregiving experienced affected reading performance Institutional upbringing affected reading performance both directly and indirectly through the heightened levels of inattention associated with institutional care

36 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Both ADHD and family dysfunction were significantly associated with the persistence of antisocial behavior into young adulthood and Phenotypic findings differentiated between childhood-onset and adolescent-ONSet CD.
Abstract: Background Conduct Disorder (CD) is a markedly heterogeneous psychiatric condition. Moffitt (1993) proposed that subclassification of CD should be according to age of onset. Our goals were to compare childhood-onset and adolescent-onset CD in terms of differences in phenotypic risk factors, genetic analyses, and factors associated with the persistence of antisocial behavior into young adulthood. Methods The data are from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development (VTSABD) and Young Adult Follow-Up (YAFU). Childhood-onset CD was defined as CD beginning at or before age 11. Adolescent-onset CD was defined as having CD onset between ages 14 and 17. These subgroups were compared on ADHD, young adult antisocial behavior (ASB), family dysfunction, and parental depression. Genetic analyses compare childhood-onset and adolescent-onset CD, as well as their cooccurrence with ADHD and ASB. Finally, predictors of persistence were examined. Results Childhood-onset CD was significantly associated with ADHD, ASB, family dysfunction, and parental depression. Adolescent-onset CD was marginally associated with parental depression (p = .05) but not with any of the other risk factors. Univariate genetic models showed that both childhood-onset and adolescent-onset CD involve a large genetic liability accounting for 62% and 65% of the variance, respectively. A common genetic factor (as well as an ADHD-specific factor) accounted for the cooccurrence of childhood-onset CD and ADHD. The cooccurrence of childhood-onset CD and ASB are reflected by a common genetic factor with genetic specific effects on ASB. There was no etiological link between adolescent-onset CD and either ADHD or ASB. Both ADHD and family dysfunction were significantly associated with the persistence of antisocial behavior into young adulthood. Conclusions Phenotypic findings differentiated between childhood-onset and adolescent-onset CD. ADHD and family dysfunction predicted persistence of antisocial behavior into young adulthood.

36 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: No consistent patterns of urinary chromatographic profiles were identified and a number of possible contributing factors are discussed in relation to this failure to replicate the results of previous studies.
Abstract: Sixty-nine early morning urine samples obtained from three groups of young adult males (autistic, mentally handicapped, and a group of men of normal intelligence) were analyzed using the methods described by Trygstad et al. (1980). No consistent patterns of urinary chromatographic profiles were identified. A number of possible contributing factors are discussed in relation to this failure to replicate the results of previous studies.

35 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: The issues involved in the meaning of temperamental differences are discussed with respect to consistency, developmental change, genetic influences, brain damage and mental retardation, sex differences and the mechanisms by which temperamental variables exert their effects.
Abstract: There are marked individual differences in children's temperamental styles-- differences thought to be constitutionally determined in part. The importance of temperamental features is evident in their links with various forms of psychopathology and in their effects on the manner in which other people respond to the child. For these and other reasons it has rightly come to be accepted that greater attention needs to be paid to temperamental issues in consideration of the processes of development, children's responses to stress situations, and the genesis of emotional, behavioural and learning disorders. However, major conceptual, methodological and theoretical problems remain. Problems of measurement are considered in terms of the relativity of measures, whether or not to take social context into account, the functional equivalence of measures at different ages, the circumstances to use in assessing temperament, the choice of measuring instrument and the categorization of temperamental features. The issues involved in the meaning of temperamental differences are discussed with respect to consistency, developmental change, genetic influences, brain damage and mental retardation, sex differences and the mechanisms by which temperamental variables exert their effects.

35 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation, and people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds.
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.

17,492 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Preliminary findings suggest that the SDQ functions as well as the Rutter questionnaires while offering the following additional advantages: a focus on strengths as 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.
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.

11,877 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Although mental disorders are widespread, serious cases are concentrated among a relatively small proportion of cases with high comorbidity, as shown in the recently completed US National Comorbidities 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.

10,951 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: For the next few weeks the course is going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach it’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery.
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

9,847 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that delinquency conceals 2 distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: a small group engages in antisocial behavior of 1 sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence.
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.

9,425 citations