Published 3 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b777
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b777

Letters

Teenage conduct problems, later

Authors’ reply

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Many adolescents with conduct problems in this cohort managed to avoid poor outcomes, and they may lead successful adult lives.¹ We would hesitate, however, before painting a rosy future for these adolescents.

The study outcomes are likely an underestimate of the true picture of poor outcomes for adolescents with conduct difficulties.² Those with the worst conduct problems were more likely to drop out of the study. They would also be expected to have the worst outcomes as adults, which contributes to an underestimation of the prevalence of problems in adulthood.

We captured only some of our poor outcomes at specific times in adulthood—for example, unemployment at ages 36, 43, and 53. This is not a comprehensive picture of employment throughout adult life but a useful indication for comparing groups. The prevalence of problems in adult life must be higher than we report, given the gaps in some of our measures. . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ University of Alberta School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 13-130D Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2G3, ² Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

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