Page 47 - Age of onset of disruptive behavior of residentially treated adolescents -Sjoukje de Boer
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characteristics of the youngster via a questionnaire. This information was partly based
on information reported by parents and/or referring professional (e.g., guardian or probation officer) during the intake procedure. Information from records was obtained
by the researcher. A behavior or characteristic was considered present when 3 mentioned by at least one of the sources, and absent when not present according to
all sources. When information was not available, it was coded unclear (or missing, depending on the reason for unavailability). Some characteristics were considered too aggravating to be asked directly by the researcher (e.g., sexual abuse, physical abuse), and were therefore obtained from the therapist (i.e., via the therapist who asked the adolescent) and from records.
Measures
Presence of disruptive behavior during childhood was determined, based on the age at which help was sought because of disruptive behavior, special education was indicated due to disruptive behavior, and the age at which the youngster started to commit criminal offences. For each individual the presence and age of onset of disruptive behaviors was determined. For age of onset the earliest age reported by any of the sources was used. Disruptive behavior included aggression (overt, destructive: e.g., physical abuse, sexual offences, threatening someone), oppositional behavior (overt, non-destructive: e.g., disobedient, doing things own way), status offences (covert, non-destructive: e.g., running away, truancy, substance abuse), and property violations (covert, destructive: e.g., lying or deceiving, selling drugs, vandalism)(Frick et al., 1993). Subsequently, a distinction was made in two groups labeled early-onset (EO) and adolescent-onset (AO). The EO group will most likely develop as a LCP group and the AO group as an AL group. Patients with disruptive behavior starting prior to age 12 were considered members of the EO group and those whose disruptive behavior started from age 12 on were members of the AO group (De Boer et al., 2007). In the sample, both EO (n=134, 66%) and AO (n=69, 34%) groups were found.
To describe the sample, information on current DSM diagnoses, type of referral, prior experience with institutionalized care, and penal and civil measures was collected. Penal measures comprised: “probation”, “mandatory treatment order”, and
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