Healthinmind/Mental Health Disorders/Infant, Child and Adolescent Disorders

Attention-deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders

One reason for the present great interest in these disorders is that, like many other disorders of infancy and childhood, they appear to be on the increase. Perhaps these increases are only apparent, reflecting a change in diagnostic practices; or perhaps they result from a change in the conditions of family life, or from an increase in environmental toxins, or from some entirely unknown cause.  But in any case, the hyperactive child, the child with a conduct disorder, and the defiant child no longer seem to be rarities. The sad estimates: 3 to 5% of school age children have Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactive Disorder; 6 to 16% of males under 18 have Conduct Disorder, as do 2 to 9% of females; and 2 to 16% of children have Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Some children have more than one of these disorders, so we can't simply add the percentages. Nevertheless, these estimates make it reasonable to guess that at least one child in 10 has one of these disorders.

ADHD comes in three "varieties;" in one, inattention predominates; in a second, hyperactivity and impulsivity dominate; and the third type is mixed. Click on any of the names below to find out more about a specific disorder in the ADHD and disruptive behaviors classes.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ADHD Not Otherwise Specified
Conduct Disorder  
Oppositional Defiant Disorder  
Disruptive Behavior Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

Read a book on the subject (more books within specific sections):

The Challenging Child :  Understanding, Raising, and Enjoying the Five 'Difficult' Types of Children by Stanley I. Greenspan

The Explosive Child :  A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, 'Chronically Inflexible' Children by Ross W. Greene

Raising Your Spirited Child :  A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

                                                                                                                                Last updated  12/19/03