| Summary: | Background/Aim. Conduct disorder is characterized by repetitive and
persistent presence of dissocial, aggressive and defiant behavioral patterns,
thus represents important public issue with comprehensive and far-reaching
consequences both for the individual and society. The aim of this study was
to investigate the differences in sociodemographic family characteristics and
the prominence of parental acceptance/rejection dimensions in groups of
adolescents with and without conduct disorder, as well as to examine the
connection between parental acceptance/rejection dimensions and externalizing
symptoms in the group of adolescents with conduct disorder. Methods. This
research was conducted on 134 adolescents, aged 15 to 18, using the Parental
Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ child), Youth Self-Report (YSR), and
a questionnaire constructed for the purpose of this survey. Results. The
results showed that the number of adolescents with conduct disorder coming
from divorced families was significantly higher than from complete families
(44.8% vs 13.4%, respectively; p < 0.001). Also, in this group of adolescents
there was a statistically significantly higher number of parents suffering
from psychiatric disorders compared to the controls (31.3% vs 8.9%;
respectively; p = 0.001). The perceived rejection dimension and the total
index of maternal acceptance/ rejection were significantly higher in
adolescents with conduct disorder than in those with no such disorder (132.30
± 38.05 vs 93.91 ± 26.29 respectively; p < 0.001). Similar results were found
for paternal acceptance/rejection dimension (129.40 ± 39.58 vs 86.10 ± 15.95
respectively; p < 0.001). Adolescents with conduct disorder and severe
perceived maternal and paternal rejection showed a significantly higher
average score on the subscale of externalizing symptoms (14.55 ± 4.45 and
13,27 ± 5,05) compared to adolescents with conduct disorder and lower total
index of parental acceptance/rejection (8.32 ± 5.05 and 8.28 ± 5.08).
Conclusion. The results suggest that adolescents with conduct disorder
perceive their parents as more rejecting and less warm and supportive
compared to adolescents without conduct disorder. The perception of
significant and severe parental rejection was associated with a significantly
higher averaged score on the subscale of externalizing symptoms in the group
of adolescents with conduct disorder compared to those with no such disorder.
It was found that adolescents with conduct disorder most often come from
large families, have divorced parents or parents with multiple psychiatric
disorders.
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