AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR DISORDERS OF CHILDHOOD: A FOLLOW-UP STUDY

Abstract

A group of 90 children, under the age of 15, with aggressive behavior was studied at the Pennsylvania Hospital (Franklin School) between 1925 and 1935. These children came largely from the Middle Atlantic States, and represented a wide [SEE TABLE 2 IN SOURCE PDF.] spread in their social and economic backgrounds. In an attempt to follow these children to maturity in order to assess their subsequent life adjustment, 66 were followed to the age of 18 or over ( excluding one death at age 6½). Of these 66, 13 subsequently became psychotic; 14 eventually made adequate social adjustment; 39 never made adequate adjustment. Twelve of the last group committed at least one crime of record, but only one of these crimes involved violence or destruction. In the original group, the ratio of males to females was 2½ to 1; in the psychotic group, 6 to 7; in the group adjusting well, 6 to 1. The backgrounds of these children show significant deviations from those of 60 post-encephalitic children.