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Background: Conduct disorders may be linked to common physical conditions in childhood and adolescence, and are often under reported during mainstream school years, which may lead to more serious mental health concerns in adulthood. The aim of the study was to examine the link between specific psychosomatic complaints and adolescent conduct problems.

Methods: 3,132 Swedish adolescents (age range 15-18 years, 47% boys) completed the Uppsala Life and Health Cross-Sectional Survey (LHS) at school. LHS question scores were grouped in alliance with DSM-5 conduct disorder criteria and psychosomatic complaints (PSC). Multivariate analyses assessed the effects of PSC, age, and gender on conduct problem scores.

Results: Main effects of gender; age; and PSC were observed. Adolescents with higher PSC scores had higher conduct problem scores. In reference to DSM-5 conduct disorder sub-categories, gender, age, and self-reported PSC were associated with increased conduct problems across all domains. Specifically, boys had higher serious violation of rules scores than girls, particularly older boys with higher PSC scores.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that measures of psychosomatic complaints can be used to identify children at risk of developing conduct disorders in the future, to help raise the likelihood of a healthy life into adulthood.