[Characteristics of a psychopathy-like syndrome in children with oligophrenia (epidemiological research)].

In an epidemiological survey of mentally retarded children of the school age the psychopathy-like syndrome was found in 16% of cases which accounted for one-third of all complicated forms of oligophrenia. Elevated affective excitability was the most common of all psychopathy-like disorders, followed by the syndrome of home leaving and tramping, the aggressive-sadistic syndrome, and mental instability. Other variants were observed far less frequently. Thirty per cent of the children presented a combination of various manifestations of the studied syndrome. Specific features of the syndromal structure were found to be correlated with the sex and age of children and degree of mental insufficiency. The correlation with antisocial behaviour was also determined. Although the diagnosis of mental retardation and transfer of such children to specialized schools were made earlier than in other groups of oligophrenic children, 4.9% of them continued their education in ordinary schools (i.e. in conditions inadequate for such children) which contributed to aggravation of their social disadaptation.