• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.227-236
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• 1998

Objectives：Conduct disorder is one of the most frequent diagnosis in outpatient and inpatient mental health facilities for children and adolescents. This study investigated the clinical characteristics of children and adolescents with conduct disorder. Methods：The study employed a retrospective review of 45 inpatients diagnosed with conduct disorder by DSM-IV criteria at SNUH Child Psychiatric Unit from 1993, March to 1998, September. Results：The results were as follows：1) The sex ratio was 2：1, male dominant. Mean age on admission was $12.8{\pm}2.4$ years old(male：$12.2{\pm}2.3$, female：$14.1{\pm}2.1$). The mean age of male subjects was significantly lower than that of female subjects(p<.05). 2) We classified all subjects according to child- or adolescent-onset type by DSM-Ⅳ. Childhoodonset type was 42.2%, and adolescent-onset, 57.8%. The onset of male subjects were significantly earlier than that of female subjects(p<.05). 3) The most common complaint was 'serious violation of rules'(77.8%) by DSM-Ⅳ dimensions, while the most common single symtom was 'run away from home overnight at least twice while living in parental or parental surrogate home'(48.9%). 4) The comorbid psychopathology of the subjects were frequently described as follows, in order of frequency：substance use(42.2%), ADHD(35.6%), depression(20.0%), tic disorder(11.1%), bipolar disorder(4.4%). 5) On MMPI, both Pd and Ma subscales got the highest scores. The mean of total IQ by KEDIWISC was $100.0{\pm}15.1$. Female subjects' IQ was higher than that of male subjects. 6) Regarding the number of visits to the OPD after discharge, many subjects(33.3%) had visited OPD fewer than four times. Conclusions：In this study, the male to female ratio of adolescent type showed a decreasing trend. An interesting finding was the fact that socio-economic circumstances, as well as the level of education among patients, were higher than those of previous studies. The subjects' problem were also principally self contered and posed no threat to others.