Biomedical subjects

M L Rutter

Publications and source records attributed to M L Rutter.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1994

The application of structural equation modeling to maternal ratings of twins' behavioral and emotional problems.

The application of structural equation modeling to twin data is used to assess the impact of genetic and environmental factors on children's behavioral and emotional functioning. The models are applied to the maternal ratings of behavior of a subsample of 515 monozygotic and 749 dizygotic juvenile twin pairs, ages 8 through 16, obtained through mailed questionnaires as part of the Medical College of Virginia Adolescent Behavioral Development Twin Project. The importance of genetic, shared, and specific environmental factors for explaining variation is reported for both externalizing and internalizing behaviors, as well as significant differences in the causes of variation in externalizing behaviors among young boys and girls. The usefulness of applying structural equation models to data on monozygotic and dizygotic twins and the potential implications for addressing clinically relevant questions regarding the causes of psychopathology are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Child and adult depression: a test of continuities with data from a family study.

The summaries of clinical data on children attending the Maudsley Hospital during the years 1968-72 were used to identify 80 children meeting operational criteria for depression, and 80 matched psychiatric control children. At follow-up, on average 18 years after the initial contact, information was obtained on the adult outcomes of 62 of the depressed children and 69 of the controls. At least one first-degree relative of 111 (85%) of these probands was interviewed; the great majority of interviews with relatives were conducted 'blind' to the proband's symptoms in both childhood and adulthood. The lifetime prevalence of RDC depression was significantly higher in the 128 interviewed relatives of the depressed children than in the 151 relatives of the controls. Higher rates of depression were found among the female relatives of both the depressed and control probands. These findings suggest that depression in young people resembles depression in adults in two key respects: it tends to run in families, and there are higher rates of depression among the female than among the male first-degree relatives.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Autism.

Autism is a severe disorder of development characterized by abnormalities in communication, social relationships and patterns of behaviour. This paper reviews the concepts of autism as they have developed over time in relation to research findings showing it to be an organic disorder, involving cognitive deficits, and which is largely genetically determined. Current research is focusing on the ways in which underlying brain abnormalities, genetic factors, neuropsychological deficits and behavioural manifestations are interconnected.

Autistic Disorder↗

PubMed1988

Autism: familial aggregation and genetic implications.

A review of the current literature suggests that genetic factors play an important role in the etiology of autism. It is likely that the etiology of currently idiopathic cases of autism will be shown to be heterogeneous, just as the few known etiologies are both environmental and genetic. Moreover, we would speculate that within the group of cases shown to have genetic etiologies, more than one genetic locus will be found. Some evidence suggests that quite often it is not autism itself that is inherited but rather some genetic abnormality of language or sociability that interacts with other factors to produce autism.

Autistic Disorder↗

PubMed1986

Child psychiatry: the interface between clinical and developmental research.

Developmental psychopathology constitutes a research strategy that is concerned with questions about continuities and discontinuities over time (the developmental perspective) and over the span of behavioural variation (the psychopathological perspective). The utility of this approach is discussed in relation to childhood depression, autism and schizophrenia, and the effects of adverse life experiences.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1982