Source-Specific Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Comorbidity and Risk Factors in Referred Elementary Schoolboys (original) (raw)

Common Versus Specific Correlates of Fifth-Grade Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms: Comparison of Three Racial/Ethnic Groups

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

The extent to which risk profiles or correlates of conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms overlap among youth continues to be debated. Cross-sectional data from a large, representative community sample (N = 4,705) of African-American, Latino, and White fifth graders were used to examine overlap in correlates of CD and ODD symptoms. About 49 % of the children were boys. Analyses were conducted using negative binomial regression models, accounting for several confounding factors (e.g., attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms), sampling weights, stratification, and clustering. Results indicated that CD and ODD symptoms had very similar correlates. In addition to previously established correlates, several social skills dimensions were significantly related to ODD and CD symptoms, even after controlling for other correlates. In contrast, temperamental dimensions were not significantly related to CD and ODD symptoms, possibly because more proximal...

Co-occurrences between Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Other Mental Health Disorders

Parents in today’s society are faced with a multi-array of disorders that are teeming with controversy and straddle that fine white line between an inaccurate and accurate diagnosis. With such a significant increase in diagnoses, we must wonder if children are truly being appropriately diagnosed. How often have people heard of children being diagnosed with what seems to be a domino diagnosis? Meaning, they begin with one common, low-severity disorder, and then as time elapses they develop more which increase in their severity. Are there such things as “gateway” disorders, just as we have gateway drugs in our society? Is it possible that our society’s newly found need to label adverse behavior into a disorder be leading us into a stigma in which we fail to see the signs and symptoms of something greater? It is a great advantage to remember that the simplest of occurrences account for the greater ones. Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., “as a recurrent pattern of developmentally inappropriate, negativistic, defiant, and disobedient behavior toward authority figures” (Hamilton & Armando, 2008). This disorder is extremely difficult to initially diagnose, as it becomes hard to differentiate between developmentally appropriate behavior children exhibit and troublesome behavior they develop. Hamilton & Armando (2008) concluded in their study Oppositional Defiant Disorder that as children develop a stable pattern of oppositional behavior in their preschool years, they are likely to go on to have Oppositional Defiant Disorder in latent years. Children with ODD are remarked to have significantly overwrought relationships with figures of authority such as parents and teachers, as well as peers, and have high rates of concomitant conditions such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other mood disorders. Children with ODD have also been recorded to have a grander risk of developing other disorders such Conduct Disorder (CD) and Antisocial Personality Disorder during adulthood years. Clinical studies and research have shown that psychological intervention with both parents and the child and the implementation of parent training and collaboration can significantly improve to produce short-term and long-term results (Hamilton & Armando, 2008). With research yielding very small results of Oppositional Defiant Disorder occurring with no other form of mental health disorder, mental health professionals must wonder if ODD is in fact strong enough to conclude its identity as an official mental health disorder. Little is known about the direct correlation between Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and other mental health disorders that co-occur in children. However, large amounts of research have produced a noticeable trend of co-occurrences that can suggest its existence. It is the goal of this paper to evaluate past research to demonstrate the recurring, associative relationship that ODD has with other commonly occurring disorders and to also ultimately conclude if ODD is in fact more symptomatic rather than its own mental health disorder.