Conduct Disorder

Abstract

Conduct disorder encompasses a broad range of antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents, including fighting, stealing, vandalism, truancy, and running away. The central feature of the disorder is the violation of major social rules. Although all children at some point are likely to get into fights or to lie, the diagnosis of conduct disorder is reserved for those who exhibit extremes of these and related behaviors. More specifically, the diagnosis is provided for children and adolescents who evince a pattern of antisocial behavior, who show significant impairment in everyday functioning at home and at school, and who are regarded as unmanageable by their parents and teachers. The frequency, severity, and repetitiveness of the antisocial behaviors depart from what one usually sees in children over the course of development.