Page 110 - Age of onset of disruptive behavior of residentially treated adolescents -Sjoukje de Boer

explanation for this finding. It may be related to the operationalization of early-onset and adolescent-onset disruptive behavior, because retrospective classification increases the probability of a recall bias. In this light, several studies have questioned the usefulness of the developmental theory for clinical practice (Fairchild et al., 2013; Fernández-Montalvo et al., 2008; Vermeiren, 2003). Also, several studies indicate that life-course persistent disruptive behavior is associated with problematic alcohol use, drugs use, more self reported offences, and convictions (e.g., Piquero et al., 2010). This was not replicated, since in present study participants with early-onset disruptive behavior did not differ from those with adolescent-onset disruptive behavior on the components ‘criminal offending’, and ‘substance usage’. An explanation for this could be the specificity of the sample, all were individuals with severe disruptive behavior. It cannot be ruled out that of the individuals whose disruptive behavior started in adolescence, the behavior persists into adulthood.
Although it is unlikely that treatment is by definition useful to everyone that qualifies, at the very least it is important to prevent dropout and its negative consequences for many individuals that are considered eligible. Preventing dropout is likely to result in more (cost) effective care, since daily functioning will be improved in more individuals, resulting in lower costs of care in the future. After all, any treatment that fails costs money while it probably yields nothing. Also, it is likely to serve the public interest. Especially among samples with high incidence of disruptive behavior the stakes are high, because if left untreated, these individuals tend to cause much social turmoil.
Limitations
Findings of this study need to be considered in light of some limitations. First, other factors, that were not included in this study, are important in the relation between dropout, completion of treatment and general daily functioning after treatment (e.g., treatment factors, and patient characteristics, such as personality traits, psychotropic medication use).
Another limitation is the operationalization of general daily functioning. The four components that were used give roughly an indication hereof, however, general daily functioning is a concept that is composed of multiple facets that were not all
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