What is Conduct Disorder?

Conduct disorder is the mental health condition that is diagnosed when children or teens exhibit serious aggressive and antisocial behaviors that violate rules or rights of others, with little to no guilt or concern regarding their actions.

People with conduct disorder act out at home, at school, and in other situations. They may be physically aggressive to other children or adults. They may heavily use drugs or alcohol, although they are underage. They may threaten, intimidate, or bully others. They may steal, light things on fire, run away from home, or exhibit other behaviors that are severely atypical for children or teens their age.

A number of influences may cause a child to exhibit symptoms of conduct disorder, including psychological factors, neurodevelopmental factors, socioeconomic factors, their home environment, how the parents interact with the child, and more. The combination of these factors may create circumstances that enable allow conduct disorder to develop.

What causes conduct disorder?

It’s unknown why conduct disorder develops, but doctors believe that the condition may have many causes, including genetic, environmental, and biological factors.

What are the symptoms of conduct disorder?

The current diagnostic system includes 15 possible symptoms and meeting criteria for 3 out of 15 symptoms is one of the requirements for the diagnosis.

People with conduct disorder may exhibit behaviors such as:

• Lying
• Stealing
• Fighting
• Vandalizing
• Destroying property
• Setting fires
• Skipping school
• Disregarding their parents’ rules
• Threatening or intimidating others
• Bullying others
• Being cruel to animals
• Possessing or using weapons
• Forcing others to perform sexual acts
• Running away from home
• Becoming engaged in promiscuous sexual behavior
• Using illegal drugs
• Drinking alcohol
• Experiencing academic difficulties in school

What are the risk factors for conduct disorder?

Children and teens who are at increased risk of conduct disorder include those who:

• Experienced child abuse or severe adversity
• Have parents who abuse drugs and/or alcohol
• Have parents with psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or conduct disorder
• Have been diagnosed with ADHD
• Have been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder
• Are exposed to domestic violence or neighborhood violence
• Live in poverty
• Were exposed to alcohol or tobacco in utero
• Have an association with delinquent peer groups

How is conduct disorder diagnosed?

Conduct disorder is diagnosed after a patient receives a psychiatric assessment.

During a psychiatric assessment, a mental health professional looks for behaviors that are so significant they infringe on other people’s rights and neglect social norms. These behaviors typically interfere with the child’s or teen’s relationships at home, school, work, or other social settings.

How is conduct disorder treated?

Treatment is most successful if it begins early, especially if parents and other family members are involved in the process.

Treatments include:

• Parent management training. This approach teaches adults how to change their parenting techniques to encourage more positive behaviors from their children.
• Multi-systemic therapy. This therapy helps patients with conduct disorder achieve improvements at home, at school, and in other venues.
• Psychotherapy. Individual therapy for children or teens may include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps patients focus on the ways that their thought process impacts their behaviors, to help them learn to make more positive choices, or skills training, which may help patients gain coping skills for interactions with peers and family members.
• Medication. Patients with conduct disorder with other conditions, such as ADHD or depression, may benefit from medication that helps manage those conditions.

Excerpted from “Conduct Disorder” from Yale Medicine. Read the full fact sheet online.

Source: Yale Medicine | Conduct Disorder, https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/conduct-disorder | Copyright 2024 Yale Medicine