Abstract: | The relation between childhood behavior disorders (CBD), attentional difficulties (ADD), and antisocial personality disorder (ASP) was examined in a clinical population of alcoholics and polysubstance abusers. Polysubstance abusers reported increased CBD symptomatology, increased attentional problems, a higher rate of ASP, and a greater number of both current and lifetime ASP symptoms relative to alcoholics without polysubstance abuse. An examination of gender effects revealed significant differences on self-reported adult attentional problems, with females endorsing a greater number of items. As a group, females exhibited the highest rate of ASP. Males showed a significant correlation between current ASP symptoms and both attention and conduct problems in early childhood. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 53 : 301–305, 1997. |