Disruptive
Behavior Disorders, also referred to also as Behavior Disorders,
are the most common reasons children are referred for mental health
practitioners for possible treatment. All disruptive behavior
is not the same, Behavior Disorders is an umbrella term that includes
more specific disorders, such as
Conduct Disorder, Oppositional
Defiance Disorder, and ADHD.
Attention Deficit
Disorder:
ADHD or
ADD is characterized by inattention or hyperactivity, persisting
for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and immature.
Oppositional
Defiant Disorder:
In Oppositional
Defiant Disorder, the child breaks the rules of those in the
family and the school. Oppositional Defiant Disorder may occur
in children of any age and in adolescents. Sometimes Oppositional
Defiant Disorder leads to Conduct Disorder.
Conduct Disorder Behaviors:
In Conduct
Disorder, the rules broken include the regulations and laws
made by society. Conduct Disorder usually occurs in older children
and adolescents. Between one and four percent of young persons
seven to seventeen have Conduct Disorder.
Cause:
Research has
identified both biological and environmental causes for Disruptive
Behavior Disorders. Youngsters most at risk for Oppositional
Defiant and Conduct Disorder
are those who have low birth weight, neurological damage or Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Youngsters may also be at
risk if they were rejected by their mothers as babies, separated
from their parents and not given good foster care, physically
or sexually
abused, raised in homes with mothers who were abused, or living
in poverty.
Treatment:
Because so many of the factors
that cause Disruptive Behavior Disorders happen very early in
a child’s life, it is important to recognize the problems
as early as possible and get treatment. The treatment which appears
to have shown the best results is a combination of specialized
Parent Skills training. Parent training and therapy with the child
or adolescent, is most effective when done in the family home.
Counseling
and Psychotherapy [ See
Therapy Section ]:
Behavior Therapies
to teach how to control and express feelings in healthy ways.
Pharmacotherapy
[ See Psychopharmacology
Section ] :
No medications
have been effective in reducing the symptoms of Oppositional Defiant
or Conduct Disorders.
