Delinquency and Hyperactivity

Thirty-one delinquent children who were also hyperactive were compared with 35 delinquents who were not hyperactive on data gathered by parental interviews and record searches primarily of school and pregnancy and birth records. The hyperactive delinquents had a lower birth weight than their brothers and than nonhyperactive delinquents and possibly more delivery and postnatal complications than the nonhyperactive group. In addition, their antisocial behavior showed earlier onset, with more antisocial symptoms. The symptoms “reckless and irresponsible,” “fighting,” and “drug abuse” were significantly more common among the hyperactives. The two groups did not differ in socioeconomic class, IQ, school performance prior to the onset of antisocial behavior, number of broken homes, and frequency of parental mental illness including alcoholism. The finding that the families of the hyperactives were not disadvantaged compared to the families of the nonhyperactives provides support for the hypothesis that the pregnancy and birth complications, primarily low birth weight, may be etiologically linked to the hyperactivity. The data support the idea that the identification of a subgroup of delinquents on the basis of reported hyperactivity also identifies a subgroup with severe delinquency and a probable poor adult prognosis. An implication of the study is the need to define the hyperactive child syndrome by criteria that do not include antisocial behavior. If the original criteria allow the inclusion of antisocial children, then their adult prognosis may be relatively poor because antisocial children have a poor adult prognosis. Follow-up studies are required to understand further the relationship among low birth weight, hyperactivity, and antisocial behavior both in terms of the childhood illness as well as the adult sequelae.