The researchers found that participants with childhood onset conduct disorder - sometimes referred to as "early starters" - had a strikingly higher number of cases where brain regions had the same thickness as controls. In contrast, the participants with adolescent-onset conduct disorder - sometimes termed "late starters" - had a lower number of cases where brain regions had the same thickness compared with controls.
Prof. Fairchild says the differences between the youths with both forms of conduct disorder and their healthy peers "show that most of the brain is involved, but particularly the frontal and temporal regions of the brain."
He argues that the findings are "compelling evidence" that conduct disorder is a "real psychiatric disorder," and not just an exaggerated form of teenage rebellion as some experts have suggested.
The study also indicates there are important differences in the brains of people who develop conduct disorder early in childhood and those who develop it later during their teens
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Category(s):Child and/or Adolescent Issues, Oppositional & Defiant Behavior in Children & Teens
Source material from MedicalNewsToday
