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Disregard for rules, a key component of oppositional defiant and conduct disorders, is stable during early childhood. This study investigates for the first time the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors underlying this early developmental stability. Maternal reports of child disregard for rules were obtained at four time points from 20 to 64 months of age in a population-based twin sample (N = 597 twin pairs, including 238 monozygotic and 359 dizygotic pairs). Structural equation modeling was conducted using both variance-covariance and latent growth curve approaches. Genetic factors accounted for most of the stability in disregard for rules throughout early childhood. In contrast, most environmental effects were age specific. Developmental stability in early symptoms of disregard for rules is best explained by the stable action of genetic factors, suggesting that preventive interventions should take an intergenerational approach, targeting at-risk families as early as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disregard for rules, an important dimension of oppositional defiant and conduct disorders, is frequent during early childhood, but the development of its chronic form has not been studied during this key socialization period. This study aimed to describe the developmental trajectories of disregard for rules during early childhood and identify prenatal and postnatal predictors for a high trajectory. Methods: Participants were involved in a longitudinal study of a birth cohort followed yearly from 5 to 74 months of age ( N = 1,942). Prenatal and postnatal predictors were measured by parental report at the beginning of the study, and parents reported child disregard for rules at five time points from 29 to 74 months of age. Results: Four groups of children followed distinct and stable trajectories of mother-rated disregard for rules: Very Low (approximately 9.1%), Low (56.9%), Moderate (29.7%) and Chronic (4.3%). As expected, male sex was a significant predictor of the chronic trajectory (OR = 1.76, CI = 1.09–2.83). Mothers’ history of antisocial behavior (OR = 1.72, CI = 1.02–2.91), and postnatal depressive symptoms experienced by the mother (OR = 1.71, CI = 1.03–2.84) and the father (OR = 2.02, CI = 1.10–3.71) were also important independent predictors. However, contrary to expectations, children’s difficult temperament and parenting at 5 months did not predict chronic disregard for rules beyond other risk factors. Conclusions: High disregard for rules is fairly stable during early childhood and is associated with risk factors identifiable before and shortly after birth which may be used for targeted prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To review preventive studies of disruptive behaviour disorders (DBDs) in light of recent empirical knowledge on their development. Method: We draw on the results of longitudinal studies of children starting in infancy to examine the onset, development, and risk factors for DBD symptoms. We review randomized controlled trials of preventive interventions provided to families before the child is aged 3 years, with reported outcome measures of DBD symptoms at follow-up. Results: Children who present high levels of DBD symptoms start to do so in the first 2 years of life and have risk factors that can be identified in the mother during pregnancy or even earlier, and shortly after the child's birth. Most preventive experiments have started relatively late after birth and have targeted parenting, with weak effects on children's DBDs. Preventive experiments that have provided intensive intervention to at-risk mothers starting during pregnancy have shown important effects in reducing key risk factors and some of the most severe consequences of DBDs. However, even those experiments have not succeeded in preventing childhood DBDs in the home and school contexts. Conclusions: We suggest adopting a sequential, multitarget, intergenerational, experimental approach both to increase our knowledge about causal mechanisms and to increase our effectiveness in curbing DBDs and their serious lifelong consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]