Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders

Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders

This category brings together disorders that involve problems in self-control of emotions and behaviour. The key disorders here are Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder, along with others. What ties them together is a pattern of behaviour that violates the rights of others or major age-appropriate social norms.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Children with ODD show a pattern that is clearly beyond normal childhood stubbornness or moodiness. They display an age-inappropriate amount of stubbornness, are consistently irritable, defiant, and disobedient, and behave in a hostile manner toward authority figures.

A critical feature of ODD is that the individuals themselves do not see their own behaviour as angry, oppositional, or defiant. Instead, they genuinely believe their actions are a reasonable reaction to the circumstances or demands placed on them. This means the symptoms of the disorder become deeply entangled with the child's problematic interactions with others — the child sees the problem as being caused by others, not by themselves.

Conduct Disorder

The terms conduct disorder and antisocial behaviour refer to a more severe pattern. These involve age-inappropriate actions and attitudes that violate:

• Family expectations
• Societal norms
• The personal or property rights of others

The behaviours typical of conduct disorder fall into four main categories:

• Aggressive actions that cause or threaten harm to people or animals
• Non-aggressive conduct that causes property damage
• Major deceitfulness or theft
• Serious rule violations

Children with conduct disorder show many different types of aggressive behaviour. These include:

• Verbal aggression — name-calling, swearing
• Physical aggression — hitting, fighting
• Hostile aggression — aggression directed specifically at inflicting injury on others …