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Christopher Gillberg

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Christopher Gillberg, born 1950, is professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Gothenburg University in Gothenburg, Sweden, and at the medical college St George's, University of London, in Tooting (in south London).

Gillberg is known for his research of autism in children, DAMP, Asperger syndrome and ADHD. He was the founding editor of the journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and author and editor of several scientific and educational books. He is the recipient of several scientific awards, including the Philips Nordic Prize 2004 for neurological research, and he has more than 300 scientific papers listed in Medline.

In 2003, Gillberg was accused of having committed scientific fraud for much of his career. In 2004, most of the records of Gillberg's research were deliberately destroyed by Gillberg; for that, Gillberg was convicted (by a Swedish court) of misuse of office and contempt of court. The destruction of the potential evidence ended investigations into misconduct. Gillberg maintains his innocence of misconduct.


Gillberg's Criteria for Asperger's Disorder

Gillberg's criteria are as follows (all six criteria must be met for confirmation of diagnosis) (Gillberg and Gillberg 1989) (Attwood 195-196)

  1. Severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction (at least two of the following)
    1. inability to interact with peers
    2. lack of desire to interact with peers
    3. lack of appreciation of social cues
    4. socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior
  2. All-absorbing narrow interest (at least one of the following)
    1. exclusion of other activities
    2. repetitive adherence
    3. more rote than meaning
  3. Imposition of routines and interests (at least one of the following)
    1. on self, in aspects of life
    2. on others
  4. Speech and language problems (at least three of the following)
    1. delayed development
    2. superficially perfect expressive language
    3. formal, pedantic language
    4. odd prosody, peculiar voice characteristics
    5. impairment of comprehension including misinterpretations of literal/implied meanings
  5. Non-verbal communication problems (at least one of the following)
    1. limited use of gestures
    2. clumsy/gauche body language
    3. limited facial expression
    4. inappropriate expression
    5. peculiar, stiff gaze
  6. Motor clumsiness: poor performance on neurodevelopmental examination

(Note that these criteria are somewhat different than those given in DSM-IV-TR.)

DAMP, MBD, and ADHD

Gillberg played a leading role in developing the concept DAMP (Deficits in Attention, Motor control and Perception) in the 1980s. The new concept was partly based on previous attempts to define diagnostic criteria for MBD (Minimal Brain Dysfunction). Around 1990 DAMP had become a generally accepted diagnostic concept in the Nordic countries. DAMP is essentially equivalent to ADHD in combination with DCD as defined by DSM-IV. (In the WHO system, it would be a hyperkinetic disorder combined with a developmental disorder of motor function.) About half of the children with ADHD are claimed to also have DCD.

Criticism and controversy

Gillberg's research showed that roughly ten percent of all children have either DAMP, or other neurological problems. His results regarding DAMP have been criticised by the sociologist Eva Kärfve at the University of Lund, and the pediatrician Leif Elinder. The two critics accused Gillberg of forging his data. Kärfve and Elinder (as private persons) then demanded access to the research material behind the so-called Gothenburg study about DAMP, but they were denied this, on the grounds of patient confidentiality. They then took the matter to civil court, where it was decided that they would be allowed to access some of the research material, although the material on patients falls under privacy restrictions.

Gillberg refused to respect the court's decision. Instead, Gillberg informally asked the Chairman of the Ethics Committee, Ove Lundgren (a Professor Emeritus of Physiology at the university), to look at the research material. Lundgren was given four hours to scrutinze 100.000 pages of material. He found nothing obviously wrong. Gillberg then made media announcements stating that he had been cleared by the ethics committee. Lundgren later said the following in a letter to the Dean, Gunnar Svedberg (dated 2005-02-21):

I made it perfectly clear to the Gillberg group (C Gillberg, P

Rasmussen) that I - based my four hour inspection - never could certify that there had not been a misconduct of research. I have never in my professional life been used in such a

way as I have been used in this affair.

In May 2004, three of Gillberg's coworkers destroyed most of the research material. Gillberg initially claimed that this was done without his knowledge or permission, but the Swedish courts did not believe this. In June 2005, Gillberg and the rector of Gothenburg University were convicted for not handing the material over to Kärfve and Elinder. There were related criminal court hearings in 2006.

After the destruction of most of the research material, further attempts at formal investigation into potential misconduct became essentially impossible. It might be noted, though, that Per Anders Rydelius, Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Karolinska Institute, and Rolf Zetterstrom, past chief editor of Acta Paediatrica, published a somewhat-investigative article in the Swedish journal Dagens Medicin. The article pointed out that the Gillberg group, in order to prove their hypothesis, repeatedly changed diagnoses and information in their material: "Accessible articles (from the Gillberg group) reveal that those studied have been managed in an unscientific way - a conclusion which does not need strengthening by what could have been found in the destroyed research material".

Bibliography

  • A Guide to Asperger Syndrome, Cambridge University Press, 2002 (author).
  • Clinical Child Neuropsychiatry, Cambridge University Press, 1995 (author).

References

External links

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