Social phobia and the persistence of conduct problems

Recent epidemiological studies suggest that both social anxiety and attenti on deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood might predict levels of delinquent behavior in adolescence. The current study prospectively exam ines the influence of social phobia and ADHD symptom scale scores on the co rrelation in conduct disorder symptom scale scores over time. An epidemiolo gically selected sample of 776 young people living in Upstate New York rece ived DSM-based psychiatric assessments in 1983, 1985, and 1992 using struct ured interviews. Correlations among conduct disorder scales over time were examined as a function of social phobia and ADHD ratings. Individuals with low scores on social phobia scales or high scores on ADHD scales exhibited the highest correlation in conduct disorder symptom scales over time. There was also a suggestion that low scores on social phobia scales predicted la ter risk for conduct disorder. Low scores on social phobia symptom scales o r high scores on ADHD scales predict stronger across-time correlations in c onduct disorder symptom scales. Various cognitive or biological factors mig ht account for these moderating effects on conduct problems.