An Experimental Investigation of Antisocial Lie‐Telling Among Children With Disruptive Behavior Disorders and Typically Developing Children

• Published in: Child development 2019-05, Vol.90 (3), p.774-789
• Main Authors: Mugno, Allison P., Malloy, Lindsay C., Waschbusch, Daniel A., Pelham Jr, William E., Talwar, Victoria
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders - psychology; Behavior disorders; Behavior problems; Behaviour disordered children; Child; Child Behavior - psychology; Child development; Child Development - physiology; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Conduct Disorder - psychology; Deception; Disruptive behaviour; Female; Games; Humans; Individual differences; Male; Paradigms; Social Behavior; Wrongdoing
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12985

Children's lie‐telling is surprisingly understudied among children with significant behavioral problems. In the present study, experimental paradigms were used to examine antisocial lie‐telling among ethnically diverse 5‐ to 10‐year‐old children with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD; n = 71) and a typically developing (TD) comparison sample (n = 50) recruited from a southeastern state from 2013 to 2014. Children completed two games that measured the prevalence and skill of their lies: (a) for personal gain and (b) to conceal wrongdoing. Children with DBD were more likely to lie for personal gain than TD children. With age, children were more likely to lie to conceal wrongdoing, but the reverse was true regarding lies for personal gain. Results advance knowledge concerning individual differences in children's lie‐telling.