Studies of adoptees from psychiatrically disturbed biological parents. III. Medical symptoms and illnesses in childhood and adolescence.

Analysis of data gathered from interviews with adoptive parents supports the hypothesis that female adoptees of antisocial biological backgrounds might have higher percentages of somatic symptoms. The authors compared female adoptees of antisocial parentage with male and female controls, male adoptees of antisocial parentage, and male and female adoptees whose biological parents had other psychiatric conditions. They stress the importance of this hypothesis in the diagnosis and management of childhood and adolescent "medical" and behavioral problems.