The prevalence and risk factors of conduct disorder among juvenile delinquents in China

Abstract

Conduct disorders (CDs) are common in juvenile justice cases, but their prevalence varies across regions. It is useful to help people comprehend the incidence and risk factors for CDs in the judicial environment. To determine the prevalence of CDs among juvenile delinquents in China and explore the risk factors for CDs in terms of demographic characteristics, individual characteristics, and social environmental factors. A total of 545 male juvenile delinquents and 297 typically developed adolescents from China were recruited for this study. The Conduct Disorder Screening Form was used to assess the symptoms of CD, and related measurements, including the Demographic Questionnaire, Short-Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran for Chinese (s-EMBU-C), the Short Form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), the Parental Monitoring Scale, the Deviant Peer Affiliation Scale, the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU), the Self-Control Scale (SCS), and the Moral Disengagement Scale (MDS), were carried out. Among the juvenile delinquents, 58.7% met the symptoms of CD, with adolescent-onset CD accounting for 90.94% of these cases. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of CD between the criminal group and the illegal group, but the criminal group scored higher on aggression than the illegal group. The adolescents with CDs differed from the typically developed adolescents in demographic characteristics, parenting style, individual characteristics, and deviant peer affiliation. Discriminant analysis revealed that deviant peer affiliation had the greatest impact on the CDs of adolescents (structural matrix = 0.85), followed by the level of parental monitoring and moral disengagement. CD is widespread in Chinese juvenile delinquents. CD symptoms differ between criminal and illegal juvenile delinquents. Risk factors such as deviant peer affiliation, inadequate parental monitoring, moral disengagement, and low parental warmth all contribute to the high prevalence of CD.