Differences between conduct disordered and normal control children in their tendencies to escalate or neutralize conflicts when interacting with normal peers
(1) Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Utrecht University Hospital, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands
Abstract:
The behavior of conduct disordered (CD) children was compared with normal control (NC) children in interaction with normal peers. Dyads consisting of a) a CD child and a normal peer and b) an NC child and the same normal peer as in a) were observed. CD boys were less able than NC boys to neutralize incipient conflicts. Hitherto most behavioral studies of CD boys have concentrated on their tendency to escalate conflicts but have paid very little attention to their difficulty in neutralizing conflicts.