Disruptive Behavior Disorders

It has been found that these behaviors are a result of both metabolic and environmental factors. Counseling and behavior modification techniques are quite often used to address these symptoms.

Conduct Disorder

Conduct disorder (CD) involves serious violation of rules, destruction of property, aggression to people and animals, and theft or deceitfulness. These characteristics can either manifest early on, prior to the age of ten (10), or during adolescence. Dependent on the quanity of the problems, conduct disorder is classified as either mild, moderate, or severe.

Parenting

An improvement in parenting skills is paramount in alleviation of these disorders. Coercion does not work. This just results in increased negative behaviors by the child, and aversive parental reactions. It’s necessary to break this cycle.

Treatment

A combination of prevention and treatment is necessary. This involves skill development for both child and caregiver (family and school environments). Nutritional supplementation and neurotherapy have been found to be effective with conduct disorder. Many people do respond to neurological intervention followed by cognitive and behavioral therapies.

Although disruptive behavior disorders present quite a challenge, there are many viable interventions that work well for ODD, CD, and ADHD. It’s important to utilize child training, family training, and school and community education when addressing these disorders. A variety of interventions may be necessary, and the optimum method appears to be an integrated approach throughout the development stage of the child and family life. Click here to return to the Transforming Child Behavior Home page.

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