Pittsburgh Girls Study

 

Development of conduct disorder in girls, NIH/NIMH, R01 MH56630

 

In collaboration with faculty at the Western Psychiatric Institute and

Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Dr. Keenan is an investigator on The

Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS).  The aim of the PGS is to identify early

precursors to antisocial behavior in girls by conducting annual assessments

of girls who at the start of the study ranged in age from 5-8 years.   To

identify eligible girls, we undertook in 1999-2000 a community-wide survey

of households in 90 neighborhoods of the City of Pittsburgh.  From this

survey of 103,238 households, we identified girls aged between five and

eight years, 85.3% of whom agreed to participate resulting in a final sample

size of 2,451.  The study utilizes multiple informants: the children, their

primary caregiver, and their teacher are all being interviewed independently

on an annual basis.  Data collection for the first study phase began in the

Fall of 2000 and was successfully completed in August 2001. Currently, the

girls, their parents and teachers are participating in the sixth assessment

when the girls are aged 11-14 years.

 

Principal Investigator:

Rolf Loeber

 

Co-Investigators:

Kate Keenan, Alison Hipwell, Magda Stouthamer-Loeber

 

Project Coordinator:

Karen Mizelle, Jen Jacobs, Rebecca Shue DeSensi

 

 

Publications

 

Loeber, R. & Keenan, K. (1994).  The interaction of conduct disorder and its

comorbid conditions: Effects of age and gender.  Clinical Psychology Review,

14, 497-523.

 

Loeber, R., Farrington, D.P., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Lahey, B.B., Keenan,

K., & White, H.R. (2002).  Editorial introduction, Three Longitudinal

studies of children’s development in Pittsburgh: The Developmental Trends

Study, the Pittsburgh Youth Study, and the Pittsburgh Girls Study.  Criminal

Behaviour and Mental Health, 12, 1-23.

 

Hipwell, A.E., Loeber, R., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Keenan, K., White, H.R., &

Kroneman, L. (2002). Characteristics of girls with early onset disruptive

and delinquent behaviour.  Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 12, 99-118.

 

Keenan, K., Hipwell, A.E., Duax, J., Stouthamer-Loeber, M, & Loeber, R.

(2004).  Phenomenology of depression in young girls. Journal of the American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 1098-1106.

 

Keenan, K., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., & Loeber, R. (2005).  Developmental

approaches to studying conduct disorder in girls.  In D. Pepler, K. Madsen,

C. Webster & K. Levene (Eds.), The development and treatment of girlhood

aggression, (pp 29-46). Hillsdale, NJ:  Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.