Conduct Disorder

Just as every child with ODD is unique, no two cases of ODD are exactly alike. There are some variations of the disorder, however, that are more common and have become easily recognizable. For example, there are two sub-disorders within ODD: Childhood-Onset and Adolescent-Onset (Wicks-Nelson and Israel 229). The meanings behind the names are just like they sound; one type occurs during the patient’s childhood, around preschool age, and the other occurs during adolescence. There are also many disorders that are comorbid with ODD. The most common is Conduct Disorder, because research has shown that there is a relationship between children with ODD and adults with CD. In fact, a 3 year study found that 82% of males with CD had previously …show more content…
There are some circumstances that put individuals at risk of ODD and can predict that someone will have ODD, but none of these guarantee that a specific person will get the disorder. These at-risk factors are divided into three groups: Temperamental, Environmental, and Genetic and Physiological. First, temperamental problems can include problems regulating emotions, coping with stress, managing anger, and other emotional problems. Environmental, on the other hand, deals with problems outside the child. This includes harsh or inconsistent parenting, bad childhood experiences, and abusive or absent parent figures. Regardless of parenting, however, ODD is not directly caused by the home life. Yes, the environment can worsen the problem if not dealt with, but children do not get ODD because they have “bad parents”. Lastly, the Genetic and Physiological category includes biological aspects that affect the patient’s functioning. Different levels of chemicals in the brain, for example, have demonstrated a relationship with ODD symptoms, but scientists have not been able to pinpoint one aspect that affects ODD patients exclusively. Similarly, genetics and family mental history can be a predictive factor of ODD, but not everyone diagnosed has a family history of the …show more content…
In the Developmental Perspective, a patient’s problems begin as a toddler. The child will have difficulty separating from his or her parents and becoming independent, along with other emotional and developmental problems. ODD, therefore, comes as a result of these unresolved problems continuing over time (“Oppositional Defiant Disorder”). Under Learning Theory, on the other hand, the harmful behaviors of ODD are seen as learned habits. These habits result from negative attention from authority figures. Children with ODD seek control and attention from authority figures (especially parents), so negative attention actually reinforces behavior. For example, if Sarah throws her toys and breaks a lamp, she will get a scolding and punishment from her mother. Even though this procedure is meant to decrease the behavior, Sarah got attention and concern from her parent, so she will continue to do that bad