Conduct Disorder is one of the many disorders seen in adolescents. This disorder can essentially have a negative impact on the individual’s life if there is no intervening from parents, family members, or teachers. Conduct disorder is complex and there are many risk factors that play a role in the development of this disorder. These risk factors range from the prenatal environment to the influences of family. On the positive side, there are protective factors that may decrease the chances of an individual developing conduct disorder. However, it is important to realize the future outcome of young people with this disorder varies with each person. Individuals who are diagnosed with conduct disorder have repeatedly shown behaviors that are considered aggressive. Further, these behaviors disregard the rights of other persons or they oppose what society has deemed as appropriate behavior for that particular age. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) has put these problem behaviors into four categories; aggression towards people or animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, and serious rule violations. Aggression towards people or animals can include bullying or threatening others, or physically harming animals such as abusing them. Purposely setting someone’s house on fire is an example of destruction of property while lying to others to get what one wants is an illustration of deceitfulness or theft. The last area of performance would constitute as the teenager staying out past curfew, regardless of what their parent says or being constantly absent from school (Mash & Wolfe, 2013). There are many factors that can influence or increase the risk of an adolescents developing conduct disorder.... ... middle of paper ... ...ldren who are resilient are able to adapt and grow using coping strategies (such as knowing when to ask for help), possess a sense of personal control over their lives, and are able to learn from mistakes rather than feeling helpless” (Liabo & Richardson, 2007, p. 27-28). Petras, Schaeffer, Ialongo, Hubbard, Muthen, Lambert, Poduska, and Kellam (2004) research results indicated that boys who were considered to be at a greater risk in developing Conduct Disorder, but lived in an area that did not have high levels of criminal behavior had less of a chance of giving into this type of behavior. The same study also discovered individuals were less likely to be arrested if they had parents who regularly kept an eye on them, even if the young person was aggressive. The bottom line is not all children who are at risk of developing Conduct Disorder will be diagnosed with it.
There are many causes on why a child or teenager may misbehave. There could be issues at home, with family, other kids, peer pressure, and the list goes on. This can affect family, friends and their own lives in a negative way. “Understanding why children engage in bad behavior is critical to curbing it”, illustrates Harvey Karp, M.D, a pediatrician and author of the book and DVD “The Happiest Toddler On The Block”. In that case, there is a lot to be learned about the cause of misbehavior.
Klika J, Herrenkohl T, Lee J. School Factors as Moderators of the Relationship between Physical Child Abuse and Pathways of Antisocial Behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence March 2013 28(4).Print.
The hallmark of Conduct Disorder (CD) is an obvious and careless apathy for the rules, the rights, the emotions, and the personal territory of others. Aggression, deceitfulness, duress, and power over others are enjoyable to a child with CD. Children with CD pick fights, trespass, lie, cheat, steal, vandalize, display abusive behaviors, and, for older children, perpetrate unwanted sexual advances. The display of signs in younger children can be: ruthless bullying, lying for the purpose of lying, and stealing of useless things.
1.When a youth goes through suffering (ex. domestic violence, abusive relationships, etc.), numerous complications emerge throughout their development. They may be consumed by irritability, suspicion, and trust issues and have behavioural patterns, including paranoia, dishonesty, and impulsive behaviour. Others develop personality disorders similar to PTSD. The long-term effects of child abuse are also shown through the movie character Will Hunting who suffered child abuse in foster care and now is an impulsive man who refuses to reach out for help. Although, there are exceptions for negative development in those who have experienced childhood trauma.
The disorder is marked by a persistent pattern of disregard for the rights of others. This, in addition to the repeated violation of others’ rights, is able to be traced back to childhood or early adolescence and continues to be evidenced in adulthood. The diagnostic criteria are as follows. There must be evidence of at least three of the following occurring since the age of 15...
Conduct Disorder (CD) appears to be linked with substance abuse disorders (SUD) among adolescents when compared to other mental disorders within this population. There is a strong correlation between childhood diagnosis of CD because of environmental and genetic factors and is more common among boys than girls when there is a positive parental history of SUD. Pagliaro & Pagliaro (2012) have indicated that a dual diagnosis involving CD may be mediated among adolescents with childhood A-D/HD by the factor of deviant peer affiliation and co-morbidity of CD or of ODD is at an increased risk for developing a peer-mediated SUD during adolescence.
According to the DSM-IV, if a child's problem behaviors do not meet the criteria for Conduct Disorder, but involve a pattern of defiant, angry, antagonistic, hostile, irritable, or vindictive behavior, Oppositional Defiant Disorder may be diagnosed. These children may blame others for their problems.
Antisocial personality disorder is a personality disorder marked by a general pattern of disregard for a violation of other people’s rights. Explanations of antisocial personality disorder come from the psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and biological models. As with many other personality disorders, psychodynamic theorists propose that this disorder starts with an absence of parental love during infancy leading to a lack of basic trust. In this view, the children that develop this disorder respond to early inadequacies by becoming emotionally distant, and they bond with others through use of power and destructiveness. Behavioral theorists have suggested that antisocial symptoms may be learned through modeling, or imitation. As evidence, they point to the higher rate of antisocial personality disorder found among the parents of people with this disorder. Other behaviorists suggest that some parent’s unintentionally teach antisocial behavior by regularly awarding a child’s aggressive behavior. The cognitive view says that people with this disorder hold attitudes that trivialize the importance of other people’s needs. Cognitive theorists also believe that these people have a genuine difficulty recognizing a point of view other than their own. Finally studies show that biological factors may play an important role in developing antisocial disorder. Researchers have found that antisocial people, particularly those with high impulse and aggression, display lower serotonin activity and has been linked this same activity with other studies as well.
Wright, S., & Farrell, A. D. (2012). A qualitative study of individual and peer factors related to effective nonviolent versus aggressive responses to problem situations among adolescents and high incidence disabilities. Behavioral Disorders, 37(3), 163-178.
Thio, ., Taylor, ., & Schwartz, . (2013). Deviant Behavior (11th ed., pp. 5-7). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
adolescent has been found to increase the risk for violent and aggressive behavior and criminality
Childhood Disruptive Behaviors Early Childhood Children at this stage (aged 4 to 8) understand the world by perceiving it, being influenced by it, and acting on it. In turn, the surrounding world shapes the child. This demonstrates the role of nurture within the child’s environment, as well as its role in developing behavior patterns. Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that behavior patterns and personality are established during the early formative years. Research suggests that, when children come from unhealthy backgrounds, such as dysfunctional, abusive homes, they are much less likely to develop adequately physically, academically, and emotionally.
Patterson, G.R., Debaryshe, B.D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44(2), 329-335.
Conduct Disorder has been a part of the American Psychological Association’s Diagnostic Statistical Manuel (DSM) since its original release date in 1994. Although, there is new information about the disorder that was previously unknown, Conduct Disorder is distinguished by a “repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate norms or rules are violated” (American Psychiatric Association, 1994.) This mild, moderate, or severe antisocial behavior begins to appear either in childhood, categorized as early-onset conduct disorder , or in adolescence after ten years of age, classified as adolescent-onset conduct disorder (Passamonti et al., 2010.) The criteria to meet to be diagnosed with this disorder are separated into four subgroups: aggressive conduct, nonaggressive conduct, deceitfulness or theft, and serious violations of the rules. Three or more incidents must be present in the past twelve months with at least one of the characteristics being present in the past six months. This disorder causes severe impairment of functioning across a variety of situations so it is important to keep in mind society and individual situations because this diagnosis may be “misapplied to individuals in settings where patterns of undesirable behavior are sometimes viewed as protective” (American Psychiatric Association, 1994.) For example, a patient that has recently relocated from a war torn country would most likely not be a candidate for Conduct disorder even though he or she may exhibit some of the characteristics.
Emotional and behavioral disorders manifest from various sources. For some children, the core of these disorders is rooted in such factors as “family adversity...poverty, caregiving instability, maternal depression, family stress…marital discord…dysfunctional parenting patterns…abuse and neglect” (Fox, Dunlap & Cushing, 2002, p. 150). These factors are stressors that affect children both emotionally and behaviorally. Students have their educational performance and academic success impeded by such stressors once in school, which creates even more stress as they find themselves frustrated and failing. As a result, problem behaviors may manifest that can be described as disruptive, impulsive, pre-occupied, resistant to change, aggressive, intimidating, or dishonest. Such behaviors may also inflict self-harm.