Attachment in infancy and the problem of conduct disorders in adolescence: the role of reflective function
- By Peter Fonagy
Pages 319 to 344
Cite this chapter
- FONAGY, Peter,
- INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY,,
- BRACONNIER, Alain,
- GUTTON, Philippe
- and JEAMMET, Philippe,
- Fonagy, Peter.
- Fonagy, P.
- . International Society for Adolescent Psychiatry,
- A. Braconnier,
- P. Gutton
- and P. Jeammet
https://doi.org/10.3917/greu.isap.2000.01.0319
Cite this chapter
- Fonagy, P.
- . International Society for Adolescent Psychiatry,
- A. Braconnier,
- P. Gutton
- and P. Jeammet
- Fonagy, Peter.
- FONAGY, Peter,
- INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY,,
- BRACONNIER, Alain,
- GUTTON, Philippe
- and JEAMMET, Philippe,
https://doi.org/10.3917/greu.isap.2000.01.0319
Perhaps more than other problems of children and adolescents, conduct problems are in the eye of the beholder. Then « acting out » behaviors range from the irritating (yelling, whining, temper tantrums) to the frightening and even terrorising (physical destructiveness, interpersonal aggression, even murder). However heterogenous the category, the behaviors do not occur in isolation, but appear to be part of a complex syndrome. Accumulating epidemiological evidence for some years has suggested that the annoying oppositional behaviors of the young child, for example non-compliance and argumentativeness, are developmental precursors to more serious forms of antisocial behavior in adolescence. The developmental understanding of this group of adolescents is the aim of this paper.
General descriptions of conduct problems such as the above fall to convey their developmental, contextual and transactional aspects (Mash, Dozois, 1996 ; McMahon, Estes, 1997). Behavioral manifestations of conduct problems change over time. They are powerfully influenced by a range of contextual factors including characteristics of constitution, family, peer group, and broader ecologies such as school and neighbourhood. Even more important, the development of conduct problems is transactional, in that contextual and developmental aspects unfold over time and influence one another. Parent-child relationships are inevitably distorted by early conduct problems which in turn are aggravated by the parents’ reaction (Coie, Dodge, 1998 ; Hinshaw, Anderson, 1996)…
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