Young Troublemakers Set on the Road to Antisocial Adulthood

"The idea a person's character is formed in the first few years of life is not new...But the theory that badly behaved children are more likely to grow into troubled adults has been given extra weight by one of the world's most famous and long-running studies of children. The study has found children who persistently lie, steal, are physically aggressive or cruel are at high risk of turning into antisocial and troubled adults. Yet governments are ignoring proven ways of fixing the problem. The study's director, David Fergusson, of the University of Otago in New Zealand, said serious conduct problems that develop by age seven can have far-reaching consequences…The study found that with increasing numbers of early conduct problems, there were increases in rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal behaviour in the young adults. Almost 20 per cent of the children with serious behaviour problems had become parents before they were 20, compared with less than 5 per cent of the low-problem group."