Behavioral - Learning Disorders

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Oppositional Defiant Disorders

NIH - Medical Encyclopedia Oppositional Defiant Disorder "Oppositional defiant disorder is a pattern of disobedient, hostile, and defiant behavior toward authority figures. To fit this diagnosis, the pattern must persist for at least 6 months and must go beyond the bounds of normal childhood misbehavior.

Symptoms: • Arguing with adults • Loss of temper • Angry and resentful of others • Actively defies adults' requests • Spiteful or vindictive behavior • Blames others for own mistakes • Is touchy or easily annoyed • Few or no friends or loss of previous friends • Constant trouble in school ...

Possible Complications: In a significant proportion of cases, the adult condition of conduct disorder can be traced back to the presence of oppositional defiant disorder in childhood ...

Prevention: Consistency in rules and fair consequences should be practiced in the child's home. Punishments should not be overly harsh or inconsistently applied. Appropriate behaviors should be modeled by the adults in the household. Abuse and neglect increase the chances that this condition will occur. "

Highlighted Articles

Oppositional defiant disorder. (Aust Fam Physician. 2008) “DISCUSSION: Many of the behaviours required to meet this diagnosis are not uncommon in the preschool child or adolescent. However, in children with ODD the behaviours are persistent, cause significant distress to the family system, and impact on the child's social and educational functioning. Oppositional defiant disorder usually presents in the preschool years, although it may become evident during adolescence. There is strong evidence that early intervention to increase positive factors in family relationships and to increase both the parents' and child's skill levels can assist in the prevention of more serious disorders and mental health issues.”

Lifetime prevalence, correlates, and persistence of oppositional defiant disorder: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. (J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007) "Results: Lifetime prevalence of ODD is estimated to be 10.2% (males = 11.2%; females = 9.2%). Of those with lifetime ODD, 92.4% meet criteria for at least one other lifetime DSM-IV disorder, including: mood (45.8%), anxiety (62.3%), impulse-control (68.2%), and substance use (47.2%) disorders. ODD is temporally primary in the vast majority of cases for most comorbid disorders. Both active and remitted ODD significantly predict subsequent onset of secondary disorders even after controlling for comorbid conduct disorder (CD). Early onset (before age 8) and comorbidity predict slow speed of recovery of ODD. Conclusions: ODD is a common child- and adolescent-onset disorder associated with substantial risk of secondary mood, anxiety, impulse-control, and substance use disorders. These results support the study of ODD as a distinct disorder."

Conduct Disorders

NIH - Medical Encyclopedia Conduct Disorder "Conduct disorder, a disorder of childhood and adolescence, involves chronic behavior problems, such as defiant, impulsive, or antisocial behavior; drug use; or criminal activity.

Causes: Conduct disorder has been associated with family conflicts, child abuse, poverty, genetic defects, and parental drug addiction or alcoholism. The diagnosis is more common among boys and is estimated to be as high as 10%. However, because many of the qualities necessary to make the diagnosis (such as "defiance" and "rule breaking") can be subjective, it is hard to know how common the disorder really is. For accurate diagnosis, the behavior must be far more extreme than simple adolescent rebellion or boyish exuberance. Conduct disorder is often associated with attention-deficit disorder, and the two together carry a major risk for alcohol and/or other drug dependence. Children with conduct disorder tend to be impulsive, difficult to control, and unconcerned about the feelings of others ...

Symptoms: Cruel or aggressive behavior toward people and animals • Destruction of property, including fire setting • Lying, truancy, running away • Vandalism, theft • Heavy drinking and/or heavy illicit drug use • Breaking rules without apparent reason • Antisocial behaviors, such as bullying and fighting ...

Possible Complications: Children with conduct disorder may go on to develop personality disorders as adults, particularly antisocial personality disorder. As their behaviors worsen, these individuals may also develop significant drug and legal problems.

When to Contact a Medical Professional: See your health care provider if your child seems to be overly aggressive, is bullying others, is being victimized, or continually gets in trouble. Early treatment may help."

Highlighted Articles

A 30-Year Prospective Follow-up Study of Hyperactive Boys With Conduct Problems: Adult Criminality. (J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2007) "CONCLUSIONS: Hyperactive/ADHD boys with conduct problems are at increased risk for adult criminality. Hyperactive boys without childhood conduct problems are not at increased risk for later criminality. An intensive 3-year MMT treatment of 6- to 12-year-old hyperactive boys is insufficient to prevent later adult criminality."

From conduct disorder to severe mental illness: associations with aggressive behaviour, crime and victimization. (Psychol Med. 2007) "CONCLUSIONS: Men and women with severe mental illness who have a history of CD by mid-adolescence are at increased risk for aggressive behaviour and violent crime. These patients are easily identifiable and may benefit from learning-based treatments aimed at reducing antisocial behaviour. Longitudinal, prospective investigations are needed to understand why CD is more common among people with than without schizophrenia."

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Behavioral and Learning Disorders

Behavioral Disorders

NEWS:

1 in 5 Young Adults Has Personality Disorder “Almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life, and even more abuse alcohol or drugs, researchers reported Monday in the most extensive study of its kind. The disorders include problems such as obsessive or compulsive tendencies and anti-social behavior that can sometimes lead to violence. “

Boys, Girls Equal at Social Aggression

Children Who Are Concerned About Parents Arguing Are Prone To School Problems “Children who worry about how their parents get along with each other are more likely than other children to have psychological problems. Now a new study says that children who worry a lot about conflicts between their parents are more likely to have problems in school because they have more difficulty paying attention to the tasks before them.”

Certain Sleep Disorders Linked to Behavior Issues In Kids, Study Suggests “A new study by researchers at Hasbro Children's Hospital offers a closer look at the association between childhood sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), including snoring and sleep apnea, and behavioral problems like hyperactivity and anxiety.”

Children Who Have An Active Father Figure Have Fewer Psychological And Behavioral Problems “Active father figures have a key role to play in reducing behaviour problems in boys and psychological problems in young women, according to a review published in the February issue of Acta Paediatrica.Swedish researchers also found that regular positive contact reduces criminal behaviour among children in low-income families and enhances cognitive skills like intelligence, reasoning and language development. Children who lived with both a mother and father figure also had less behavioural problems than those who just lived with their mother.”

Early puberty tied to aggression in some girls “Girls who go through puberty early may be at increased risk of aggressive behavior, but only if they lack a strong relationship with their parents, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among 330 fifth-grade girls, those who had started puberty earlier than average were more likely to admit to aggressive behaviors like getting into fights, teasing other children and spreading rumors. However, this was true only of girls who lacked a positive relationship with their parents -- meaning their parents fell short when it came to nurturing them, talking out problems or monitoring their comings-and-goings. “

Inactive Teens at Risk for More Behavioral Problems “In adolescents, physical inactivity is associated with emotional and behavioral problems, suggests a Finnish study of more than 7,000 teenagers who took part in a survey that assessed their levels of physical activity and mental and emotional health. Boys who reported less than one hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week had more symptoms of anxiety, withdrawal and depression than boys who were more active. Inactive girls had similar problems, and were more likely than inactive boys to also report sleep problems and rule-breaking behaviors. Both inactive boys and girls were more likely than active peers to have social and attention problems.”

Infant temperament can predict behavior problems “Parents' interactions with their baby during the first year of life can predict the odds of behavior problems later on -- as can the baby's natural temperament, research suggests. The study, which followed nearly 1,900 children from infancy up to age 13, found that children whose mothers gave them plenty of intellectual stimulation in the first year of life -- reading to them, talking to them and taking them out of the house -- were less likely to have serious behavioral problems. At the same time, the odds of behavior problems were also linked to certain measures of the children's temperament during infancy -- such as how "fussy" they were, or whether they had a generally happy or more moody disposition.“

Long, Violent Childhood Tantrums Could Be Sign of Psychiatric Disorder “Consistently displaying aggressive or violent behavior during childhood tantrums, having long-lasting tantrums, engaging in self-injury during tantrums, and having difficulty recovering from such outbursts, are all possible red flags of a psychiatric disorder, a new study suggests. The research, published in the January issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, found that disruptive preschoolers aged approximately 3 to 6 years were more violent during tantrums and had significantly more tantrums at school and daycare than healthy preschoolers and preschoolers who are depressed. These disruptive youngsters also had more difficulty recovering from tantrums than their healthy counterparts.”

Second-hand smoke tied to behavior problems in boys “Specifically, the greater the boys' exposure, the more likely they were to have externalizing behavior problems such as hyperactivity, aggression and conduct disorders. They were also more likely to have internalizing behaviors, for example symptoms of anxiety and depression. While past research has linked tobacco smoke exposure to externalizing behavior in children, the researchers note, children with asthma tend to have internalizing behavior problems. The findings can't be generalized to children who don't have asthma, they add, but they do "provide further evidence that even low levels of environmental smoke may contribute to behavior problems in children." “

Teen Anger And Brain Size “Teenage anger has been linked to the size of a part of the brain called the amygdala, The Times reported. Using scans of adolescent brains, researchers have shown, the newspaper says, that "the length and intensity of their tantrums correlates directly with the size of their amygdalas". “

Troubled Children Hurt Peers' Test Scores, Behavior “Not only did children from troubled homes suffer, however: Test scores fell and behavior problems increased for their classmates as well. Troubled boys caused the bulk of the disruption, and the largest effects were on other boys. Indeed, Carrell and Hoekstra estimate that adding just one troubled boy to a class of 20 children reduces the standardized reading and math scores of other boys in the room by nearly two percentile points. And adding just one troubled boy to a class of 20 students increases the likelihood that another boy in the class will commit a disciplinary infraction by 17 percent. “

ARTICLES:

Preschoolers' Severe Tantrums May Signal a Problem

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

Importance of Early Neglect for Childhood Aggression (PEDIATRICS 2008) “CONCLUSION. This longitudinal study suggests that child neglect in the first 2 years of life may be a more-important precursor of childhood aggression than later neglect or physical abuse at any age. “

Impulsivity is associated with behavioral decision-making deficits. (Psychiatry Res. 2008)

Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Oppositional-Defiant Symptoms in Brazilian Adolescents: Gender Prevalence and Agreement Between Teachers and Parents in a Non-English Speaking Population. (J Atten Disord. 2008) “Results: Between 7% and 33% of students were rated as having high scores of symptoms. Boys and girls had the same level of symptoms, when scored by parents. Teachers rated boys as having more H/I and OP symptoms. Parents gave scores significantly higher for H/I and OP symptoms, and teachers rated more students as inattentive. Conclusions: H/I, IN, and OP symptoms were highly prevalent in this nonclinical sample. Few differences between boys and girls were observed in symptom levels.”

Father-Child Transmission of Antisocial Behavior: The Moderating Role of Father's Presence in the Home. (Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 2008) “Conclusions: The present results suggest the transmission of antisociality from father to child is at least partially environmentally moderated.“

Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Cell Phone Use and Behavioral Problems in Children. (Epidemiology. 2008) "CONCLUSIONS:: Exposure to cell phones prenatally-and, to a lesser degree, postnatally-was associated with behavioral difficulties such as emotional and hyperactivity problems around the age of school entry. These associations may be noncausal and may be due to unmeasured confounding. If real, they would be of public health concern given the widespread use of this technology."

Relationship of anger, stress, and coping with school connectedness in fourth-grade children. (J Sch Health. 2008) “Results: School connectedness was positively associated with social confidence and behavior control and negatively associated with trait anger, anger-out, and stress.”

Sleep and behavioral/emotional problems in children: A population-based study (Sleep Medicine 2008) “Hyperactivity and conduct problems at school in boys were both associated with parental reports of bedtime resistance. Hyperactivity was also associated with longer sleep duration during weekends. Conduct and emotional problems in girls were associated with earlier bedtime during school days. Emotional problems in girls were also associated with longer sleep durations in school days and weekends.”

Temper tantrums in healthy versus depressed and disruptive preschoolers: defining tantrum behaviors associated with clinical problems. (J Pediatr. 2008) “CONCLUSION: These findings provide preliminary guidelines to parents, teachers, and practitioners in identifying tantrum behaviors that may be markers of a psychiatric disorder and therefore require mental health referral.”

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