Antisocial personality disorder with and without antecedent childhood conduct disorder: does it make a difference?

The purpose of this study was to test whether prior conduct disorder increased deviance in persons diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. One hundred and three male inmates satisfying adult antisocial and conduct disorder criteria for antisocial personality disorder achieved significantly higher scores on self-report measures of criminal thinking and antisocial attitudes than 137 male inmates satisfying only the adult criteria for antisocial personality disorder and 87 male nonantisocial inmates. Inmates satisfying adult antisocial and conduct disorder criteria for antisocial personality disorder were also more likely to receive disciplinary infractions for misconduct than inmates in the other two conditions. The theoretical, diagnostic, and practical implications of these results are discussed.