Conduct Disorder

The essential feature of Conduct Disorder is a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior by a child or teenager in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated.

These behaviors fall into four main groupings: aggressive conduct that causes or threatens physical harm to other people or animals, nonaggressive conduct that causes property loss or damage, deceitfulness or theft, and serious violations of rules time and time again.

Specific Symptoms of Conduct Disorder

Conduct Disorder is characterized by a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated, as manifested by the presence of three (or more) of the following criteria in the past 12 months, with at least one criterion present in the past 6_months:

Aggression to people and animals

• often bullies, threatens, or intimidates others.

• often initiates physical fights.

• has used a weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others (e.g., a bat, brick, broken bottle, knife, gun).

• has been physically cruel to people.

• has been physically cruel to animals.

• has stolen while confronting a victim (e.g., mugging, purse snatching, extortion, armed robbery).

• has forced someone into sexual activity.

Destruction of property

• has deliberately engaged in fire setting with the intention of causing serious damage.

• has deliberately destroyed others' property (other than by fire setting).

Deceitfulness or theft

• has broken into someone else's house, building, or car.

• often lies to obtain goods or favors or to avoid obligations (i.e., "cons" others).

• has stolen items of nontrivial value without confronting a victim (e.g., shoplifting, but without breaking and entering; forgery).

Serious violations of rules

• often stays out at night despite parental prohibitions, beginning before age 13 years.

• has run away from home overnight at least twice while living in parental or parental surrogate home (or once without returning for a lengthy period).

• is often truant from school, beginning before age 13 years.

The disturbance in behavior causes clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.

If the individual is age 18 years or older, criteria are not met for Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Conduct Disorder is also categorized by the age of onset, and varies in severity from mild to severe:

• Childhood-Onset Type: this subtype is characterized by the onset of at least one criterion characteristic of Conduct Disorder prior to age 10 years.

• Adolescent-Onset Type: this subtype is characterized by the absence of any criteria characteristic of Conduct Disorder prior to age 10 years.

Severity of disorder

• Mild: few if any conduct problems in excess of those required to make the diagnosis and conduct problems.

  Cause only minor harm to other (e.g., lying, truancy, staying out after dark without permission).

• Moderate: number of conduct problems and effect on others intermediate between "mild" and "severe" (e.g., stealing without confronting a victim, vandalism).

• Severe: many conduct problems in excess of those required to make the diagnosis or conduct problems cause considerable harm to others (e.g., forced sex, physical cruelty, use of a weapon, stealing while confronting a victim, breaking and entering).




Diagnostic criteria summarized from:

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.





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