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A 12-Year Longitudinal Study

Eric Lacourse, PhD; Daniel S. Nagin, PhD; Frank Vitaro, PhD; Sylvana Côté, PhD; Louise Arseneault, PhD; Richard E. Tremblay, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006;63:562-568.

Context  Deviant peer group involvement is strongly related to onset, aggravation, and persistence of conduct problems during adolescence.

Objective  To identify early childhood behavioral profiles that predict early-onset deviant peer group involvement.

Design  A 12-year longitudinal study of behavioral development.

Setting  Fifty-three inner-city elementary schools in a large Canadian city.

Participants  A total of 1037 boys in kindergarten from low socioeconomic neighborhoods.

Main Outcome Measures  Annual self-reported deviant peer group involvement from 11 to 17 years of age.

Results  Kindergarten boys were at highest risk of following an early adolescence trajectory of deviant peer group affiliation if they were hyperactive, fearless, and low on prosocial behaviors but much less at risk if they scored high on only 2 of these dimensions. Family adversity had no main effect but substantially increased the risk of following an early adolescence trajectory of deviant peer group affiliation for boys with a profile of hyperactivity, fearlessness, and low prosocial behaviors.

Conclusions  Kindergarten boys from low socioeconomic areas who are hyperactive, fearless, infrequently prosocial, and raised in adverse family environments are at much heightened risk of engaging in deviant peer groups early in their development. Boys at high risk can be identified as early as kindergarten and should be targeted for preventive intervention.

Author Affiliations: Research Unit on Children's Psychosocial Maladjustment (Drs Lacourse, Vitaro, Côté, and Tremblay), Department of Sociology (Dr Lacourse), and Department of Psychoeducation (Drs Vitaro and Côté), University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec; H. John Heinz School III of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa (Dr Nagin); and Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London, England (Dr Arseneault).

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