Person perception in children with conduct disorders

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Personality Psychology

Background:

• O. Kernberg's object-relations theory posits distinct levels of personality organization.
• Antisocial personality organization is considered more primitive (borderline) than neurotic disorders.
• This study hypothesizes that children with conduct disorders show similar primitive object-relations compared to emotionally disturbed children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if object/self representations in children with conduct disorders can be empirically tested.
• To explore the internal object-relations of children with conduct disorders.
• To compare person perception in conduct-disordered children with a control group.

Main Methods:

• An explorative study utilizing empirical psychology research methods.
• The free (written) description of persons method was employed.
• This method is used in social cognition psychology to study person perception.

Main Results:

• Person perception in children with conduct disorders differs characteristically from a control group.
• The conscious aspect of object/self representations was assessed through written descriptions.
• Findings suggest differences in how conduct-disordered children perceive others.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully tested suppositions about object/self representations in conduct-disordered children.
• Person perception in conduct-disordered children is distinct, supporting the hypothesis of more primitive organization.
• The findings contribute to understanding personality organization in childhood conduct disorders.