Male Depression Risk Via Childhood Conduct Disorder

Conduct disorder represents an important childhood-onset condition that commonly persists into adulthood.

Adult antisocial personality disorder and substance abuse are known risks associated with conduct disorder.

A recent study by Kenneth Kendler and Charles Gardner identified male conduct disorder as a risk factor for adult major depression.

Their study using the Virginia Twin Registry examined 20 developmental risk factors in male and female twins for presence of recent adult major depression.

A key finding in their study was gender specificity for several of the developmental risk factors. Many of the developmental risk factors increased risk for later depression in both males and females.

However, several developmental risk factors showed a predominant effect in males. These male predominant risk factors included the following variables:

• Conduct disorder
• History of childhood sexual abuse
• Drug abuse
• Past major depression
• Stressful life events

Conduct disorder and presence of drug abuse were classified as having moderate effect size in male gender predominance.

Specific types of stressful life events were noted to have a strong male predominance. Stressful life events that included financial loss, occupational difficulty and legal problems were more commonly found in the male twins with depression.

The authors note:

"Our results with externalizing psychopathology are consistent with a wide range of studies finding that men have higher rates of conduct disorder and drug abuse and that both of these disorders are associated with a higher risk for major depression."

The take home message for clinicians is that assessment of childhood conduct disorder is important in children, adolescents and adults. In adult males, childhood conduct disorder represents an important risk factor for adult major depression.

Readers with more interest in this research can access the free full-text abstract and manuscript by clicking on the DOI link in the citation below.

Photo of electus parrot pair is from the author's files.

Follow the author on Twitter @WRY999

Kendler, K., & Gardner, C. (2014). Sex Differences in the Pathways to Major Depression: A Study of Opposite-Sex Twin Pairs American Journal of Psychiatry, 171 (4), 426-435 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13101375