When you hear the word “conduct disorder” you might be thinking that all teenagers at one point in their lives suffer from conduct disorder. There maybe some truth to that but conduct disorder is a mental disorder that can be diagnosed and is more severe than your typical teenager misbehavior, troubled teen or rebellion. An individual with conduct disorder repeatedly violate the personal or property rights of other people and they fail to meet even the basic expectations of society. In order for a diagnosis to be absolute, the behavior must persist for six months or longer.

Conduct disorder is also known as disruptive behavior disorder owing to its negative impact on the teenager and his family. This particular disorder appears at about the age of nine to age seventeen and is relatively more common among boys than girls. Symptoms of the disorder include the following: early incidence of substance abuse; precocious sexual activity; truancy or other violations of the law; aggressive behavior resulting to injuries to other people and/or even animals; destructive behavior that damages or destroys property. It is important to keep in mind that these symptoms are worse and more severe than what you would expect from a normal misbehaving teenager. Likewise, there needs to be several of these symptoms to persist for long periods of time.

The key for parents is early diagnosis of the disorder because it is quite difficult to modify the behavior once the person has been accustomed to it. Therefore, the earlier the conduct disorder is diagnosed and treated, the better the chance for recovery and cure. There are certain guidelines when you detect any signs of conduct disorder in your child. First, pay attention to the signs and search for the underlying causes and try to remedy the situation. Next, it may be wise to ask for assistance from a psychologist or a psychiatrist who specializes in teen disorders. It would also be helpful to keep yourself informed about the disorder by getting accurate information from libraries, hotlines and even the internet. Lastly, try to look for family network organizations particularly those whose members have the same problem as you have.