Recently, I was chatting with a mom at the playground about kids»
behavior, and she commented to me that kids need praise and approval from their parents, as there are too many
dysfunctional adults in the world to indicate otherwise.
A review of twenty studies on the
adult lives of antisocial adolescent girls found higher mortality rates, a variety of psychiatric problems,
dysfunctional and violent relationships, poor educational achievement, and less stable work histories than among non-delinquent girls.23 Chronic problem
behavior during childhood has been linked with alcohol and drug abuse in adulthood, as well as with other mental health problems and disorders, such as emotional disturbance and depression.24 David Hawkins, Richard Catalano, and Janet Miller have shown a similar link between conduct disorder among girls and
adult substance abuse.25 Terrie Moffitt and several colleagues found that girls diagnosed with conduct disorder were more likely as
adults to suffer from a wide variety of problems than girls without such a diagnosis.26 Among the problems were poorer physical health and more symptoms of mental illness, reliance on social assistance, and victimization by, as well as violence toward, partners.