Presenting Complaints

• Parents or schoolteachers may request help in managing disruptive behaviour.

Diagnostic Features

• A consistent pattern of abnormally aggressive or defiant behaviour such as
  • Fighting
  • Bullying
  • Truancy
  • Cruelty
  • Stealing
  • Lying
  • Vandalism
    
    
• Conduct must be judged by what is normal for age and culture
• May be associated with stress at home or school.
• Inconsistent discipline or conflict in family may contribute to disruptive behaviour.

Differential Diagnosis

• Some rebellious behaviour may be within the normal range.
• Inconsistent discipline or conflict in the family, or inadequate supervision at school, may contribute to disruptive behaviour.
• Disruptive behaviour can also be caused by a depressive state, learning disability, situational problems or parent-child problems.
• May occur together with hyperkinetic disorder. If overactivity and inattention are prominent, see section on Hyperkinetic (Attention Deficit) Disorder.