Differences in moral reasoning concerning hypothetical versus real-life conflicts were examined with a sample of 44 youths (aged 15–18 years) who were classified as psychopathic, delinquent, or normal. All subjects were individually interviewed and assessed on (a) Hare's Psychopathy Checklist, (b) two of Kohlberg's hypothetical moral dilemmas, and (c) a subject-generated real-life moral dilemma. The results revealed that the normal youths attained a higher level of moral reasoning than either the delinquents or psychopaths. All groups scored lower on the real-life than the hypothetical dilemmas, indicating that hypothetical dilemmas may best elicit a person's level of moral reasoning competence, whereas real-life dilemmas may entail factors that lower the level of reasoning used in a situation of moral conflict. These two dilemma types also were found to elicit differing moral orientations. Finally, psychopaths were found to orient more to egoistic concerns than did delinquents when discussing real-life dilemmas.

Deficits in “executive” neuropsychological functions have been proposed to underlie the development of antisocial behavior such as juvenile delinquency. Results of research into the executive functions of delinquents have been mixed, and studies have been hampered by reliance on small samples of adjudicated subjects and questionable validity of the tests administered. This research examined the performance of a large unselected birth cohort of adolescent boys and girls on five tests of executive function that have documented reliability and validity. It is the first such study to use self-reports of antisocial behavior. Executive deficits were shown only by a subgroup of delinquent subjects with childhood comorbidity of antisocial behavior and attention deficit disorder; that subgroup's behavior was also rated as more aggressive and impulsive than comparison groups'. Group differences on executive measures remained significant after the effects of overall IQ were statistically controlled. Also, delinquents who had been detected by police did not show poorer executive functions than subjects with equivalent self-reports of delinquent behavior who had evaded official detection, suggesting that executive deficits are related to the development of antisocial behavior itself, and not simply to risk of detection.

This study focuses on the importance of patterns of adjustment problems in early adolescence and convictions for alcohol abuse in the mid-teens for the development of alcohol abuse manifested in early adulthood. The study was performed on a large and representative cohort of Swedish males, prospectively followed from age 13 to age 25. A person approach was applied in which the individuals and individual patterns of adjustment problems were the objects of interest, not single variables per se. The results showed that patterns of multiple adjustment problems in early adolescence, as well as convictions for alcohol abuse in the mid-teens, significantly increased the risk for later alcohol abuse. Among multiproblem boys also convicted for alcohol abuse in their mid-teens, 72% were registered for alcohol abuse at ages 18–24. However, early single adjustment problems did not significantly increase the risk for later alcohol abuse. The importance of studying the background of alcohol abuse from a developmental and interactionistic perspective was emphasized.

This study examines the relations among style and development level of four interpersonal and intrapsychic processes: interpersonal thought, self-reported interpersonal action, mechanisms of defense, and object representation. Subjects were 25 girls and 25 boys from the eighth grade of an urban public school System. All four constructs were measured along developmental and stylistic dimensions. Both interpersonal thought and self-reported action processes were measured with the hypothetical and real-life interpersonal negotiation strategies interviews of Selman and colleagues. Defensive process was measured with a questionnaire revised to include Vaillant's developmental analysis of defense mechanisms as well as assessment of style of defense (internalizing vs. externalizing). Object representation style and level were measured with constructs and instruments of Blatt and colleagues. The results supported the main hypothesis: Levels of defense mechanisms and object representation independently predicted level of self-reported interpersonal action, even when controlling for level of interpersonal thought (which also predicted action). This suggests that if there are gaps between interpersonal thought and action levels, the relative level of maturity of psychodynamic processes helps explain action level. In contrast, there were few relationships among the stylistic components of the four constructs, although each style construct was related to its associated level construct. Contrary to hypotheses, no gender differences were found on any of the composited level or style variables. The study suggests operational links between structural-developmental and psychodynamic aspects of personality.

In this study, 82 sex offenders incarcerated at the Massachusetts Treatment Center were administered a brief structured clinical interview focusing on caregiver and institutional history up to age 18. Interview data were examined along with archival information coded from the clinical files. Four factors were derived from principal components analysis and were entered into a series of multiple regression analyses. There were two noteworthy results. First, sexual and nonsexual aggression in adulthood each were related to distinct aspects of developmental history. Whereas caregiver inconstancy and sexual deviation in the family wére related to the severity of sexual aggression, childhood and juvenile institutional history and physical abuse and neglect were associated with severity of nonsexual aggression. Second, contrary to previous studies of other criminal populations, the severity of aggression rather than frequency of crimes was predicted by developmental history. The results of the study suggest that childhood experiences with and disruption of caregiver relationships may be important to understanding sexual aggression in adulthood.