The specificity of childhood problem behavior for adolescent and young adult maladjustment.

A longitudinal sample of 1130 low peer choice grade school children were followed through record sources into young adulthood. Specific childhood problem behavior clusters were examined in relationship to delinquency, adult criminality, and mental health treatment contact. Childhood aggression, in the context of peer rejection, was related significantly to delinquency for males, an antisocial diagnosis for both sexes, and differentiated subjects in the judicial system from those in the mental health system. A childhood "neurological" scale differentiated subjects with a schizophrenic spectrum diagnosis from other subjects with mental health treatment.