CONDUCT DISORDER

- It is a serios behavioral and emotional disorder that can occur in children and teens. A child
and teens. A child with this disorder may display a pattern of disruptive and violent behavior
and have problems following rules

- Aka Anti-social behavior

Signs and symptoms

1. Aggressive Behavior – physical harm (violence)

2. Destructive Behavior – intentional destruction of property

3. Deceitful Behavior – repeated lying

4. Violation of Rules – engaging in behavior that is not appropriate in a person’s age

Severity of Symptoms

1. Mild

a. They display little to no behavior problems in excess of those required to

make the diagnosis. Conduct problems cause relatively minor harm to others.
Common issues lying, truancy, and staying after dark without

2. Moderate

a. They display numerous behavior problems. These conduct problems may

have a mild to severe impact on others. The problems may include vandalism
and stealing

3. Severe

a. They display behavior problems in excess of those required to make the

diagnosis. These conduct problems harm to others. These problems may
include rape, use of a, or breaking and entering

Types of Conduct Disorder

1. Onset types

a. Childhood-onset type: Individuals show at least one symptom characteristics

of conduct disorder prior to age 10 years
 b. Adolescent-onset type: individuals show no symptom characteristic of
conduct disorder prior to age 10 years

c. Unspecified onset: criteria for a diagnosis of conduct disorder are met, but
there is not enough information available to determine whether the onset of
the first symptom was before or after age 10 years

Causes

1. Biological – injuries to self. Link to brain regions regulating behavior. Nerve cells cannot
work properly. Related to ADHD, Learning d/o, depression, etc

2. Genetics – Anxiety d/o, substance d/o, personality d/o. May be partially inherited.

3. Environmental – factors such as family life, family setting

4. Psychological – affect problems with moral awareness such as lack of guilt. They are
insensitive. Deficit in cognitive processing

5. Social

Persons at risk for Conduct disorder

1. Being male

2. Living in an urban environment or property

3. Having a family hx of conduct d/o or mental illness

4. Having other psychiatric disorders

5. Drug abuse or alcohol

6. Dysfunctional Home Environment

7. Having a history of experiencing traumatic events

Being abused or neglected