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Conduct disorder and Oppositional Defiant disorder
Conduct disorder
Tantrums and some oppositional behaviour can be part of normal development for most young children and can be an expression of boundary testing when learning social rules. In roughly five per cent of children and young people this negative behaviour is severe, persistent and enormously challenging and may involve serious and repeated rule breaking and aggressive behaviour, which is often disturbing to others. Family relationships can become strained and school progress may be affected. Conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) are the diagnostic terms for those types of long-lasting, aggressive and defiant behaviours that are extreme.
These problems are the most frequently occurring mental health difficulty in young people. It is more common in boys and may start at a very young age. Some children grow out of them but some do not.
Children who show such behaviours at a very early age (around two to three years) often have other problems such as a difficult temperament, hyperactivity and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), language disorders and some degree of learning disability. Older children may have depression and specific learning problems with reading. Sometimes these behaviours can result from chronic physical problems, anxiety, experience of traumatic events or autistic spectrum disorder (see entry Autism Spectrum disorders including, Asperger syndrome).
Some young people with difficult behaviour can become depressed and may be using alcohol and illicit substances in an attempt to cope. This strategy generally worsens the problems. Self-esteem is often low despite the superficial appearance of bravado. In some cases children may relish the attention their negative behaviour can bring.
