Three out of four 'problem children' who exhibit classic symptoms of anti-social behaviour become well-adjusted adults despite being written off by society, according to the latest research.

The biggest study of its kind identified children at 11 to 12 years of age judged to be 'high risk' and followed them to the age of 18.
Contrary to the common belief that children's behaviour deteriorates during adolescence, only a quarter of the children developed consistent patterns of anti-social behaviour as they went through puberty.