ADHD with ODD Can Lead to Serious Behavior Disorder

Even mildly oppositional children with ADHD face a significant risk of developing conduct disorder (CD) in adolescence.

Even mildly oppositional children with ADHD face a significant risk of developing conduct disorder (CD) in adolescence. CD is a more severe condition characterized by violence, property destruction, lying, and stealing. In a recent study, Naureen Whittinger and her colleagues at Cardiff University in Wales evaluated 151 children between the ages of six and 13, all of whom had been diagnosed with mild to severe ADD.

When the children were reevaluated five years later, they found that children who had also been diagnosed with oppositional defiance disorder (ODD), a condition marked by defiance of and hostility toward authority figures, were almost three times more likely to develop CD than those children only diagnosed with ADHD. Children with mild ADHD and ODD were just as likely to develop CD as were children with severe ADHD and ODD.

The study was published last February in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.