Adult outcomes of childhood disruptive disorders in offspring of depressed and healthy parents

•Childhood disruptive disorders are associated with poor prognosis in adulthood.•Whether parental psychopathology is driving this association is unclear.•We find that even in the absence of familial risk, prognosis is poor.•Children with disruptive disorders grow up to have more depression and substance use.•However in the absence of parental ASPD they do not develop ASPD. Longitudinal studies of children with disruptive disorders (DDs) have shown high rates of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and substance use in adulthood, but few have examined the contribution of parental disorders. We examine child-/adulthood outcomes of DDs in offspring, whose biological parents did not have a history of ASPD, bipolar disorder, or substance use disorders. Offspring (N = 267) of parents with or without major depression (MDD), but no ASPD or bipolar disorders were followed longitudinally over 33 years, and associations between DDs and psychiatric and functional outcomes were tested. Eighty-nine (33%) offspring had a DD. Those with, compared to without DDs, had higher rates of MDD (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 3.42, p