Conduct disorders, executive function and parenting in South African children
Abstract
Globally, conduct disorders (CD) are a common, and concerning psychological disorder in children, given associations with adult antisocial behaviour. Children in South Africa (SA) are exposed to epidemic levels of violence and HIV with likely negative developmental effects. Despite this, CD is relatively under-researched in SA. In the United Kingdom (UK) approximately 5% of children have CD while estimates are double that in SA. Although difficult to treat, CD can be treated. Established UK guidelines on prevention and management of CD could have public health benefit in SA, if aetiologies were established to be similar across settings. This project examines CD in SA establishing rates of clinical CD, investigates the role of early child and familial risk factors, uses comparative SA-UK data to establish shared risks, and uses sophisticated analytical techniques to establish the direction of effects, potentially leading to innovations in prevention and treatment in SA and the UK.
