What to do if your child has a conduct disorder
If your child has a conduct disorder, you should take this into account to help him find emotional balance again.
If you have a child with conduct disorders, it is important that you know how to act to help him as quickly as possible and that in this way, you regain harmony at home, but above all, that your child can have emotional balance as soon as possible. First of all, you will need to know why your child may have a conduct disorder in order to help him. In order to know it, you will have to shuffle the possible causes that may have caused it.
Index
POSSIBLE CAUSES OF A CONDUCT DISORDER
Experts are not sure why some children develop conduct disorder and others do not. There are likely a variety of biological, psychological, and social factors involved. Very often these factors overlap but it is important to identify them. Some possible causes can be:
- Brain abnormalities: Neuroimaging studies suggest that children with conduct disorders may have some functional abnormalities in certain regions of the brain. The prefrontal cortex (which affects judgment) and the limbic system (which affects emotional responses) may be impaired.
- Genetics: antisocial behavior is 50% hereditary.
- Social problems: Poverty, troubled neighborhoods, poor schools, family disintegration, parental psychopathology, severe parenting, and inadequate supervision are strongly linked to conduct disorder. In fact, these causes may be the most potential of all.
- Cognitive deficits : Low IQ, poor verbal skills, and deficits in executive functioning can make children more vulnerable to conduct disorder.
Oppositional defiant disorder could be a precursor to driving a major conduct disorder
Some children with oppositional defiant disorder continue to develop conduct disorder in the future. Oppositional defiant disorder is a behavior disorder that involves an angry or irritable mood pattern, ongoing arguments, challenges, and a vindictive attitude. Without effective treatment, it is believed that oppositional defiant disorder can progress to conduct disorder as the child grows.
Children with conduct disorder may be more likely to develop antisocial personality disorder later in life.
There are other causes that can also cause children to develop conduct disorder:
- Misuse of medications
- Depression and anxiety
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Disability
HOW CONDUCT DISORDER IS DIAGNOSED
Conduct disorder in children can be diagnosed by a mental health professional or a doctor. Often times, a diagnosis is made after attempts to remedy behavior problems at school and at home are ineffective.
A professional can interview the child, review follow-ups by parents and teachers, ask parents and teachers to complete questionnaires about the child’s behavior. Psychological tests and other evaluation tools can be used to evaluate a child for conduct disorder.
TREATMENTS
Treatment for conduct disorder depends on several factors, such as the child’s age and the severity of the conduct problems. The most common treatment methods include:
- Psychotherapy: the therapy Individual can be useful when a child could benefit from learning new skills such as anger management and impulse control.
- Guidelines for Parents: Treatment often involves caregivers and parents. Parents can be taught behavior management strategies and techniques to increase safety at home if a child is aggressive or violent.
- Family therapy: Parents, siblings, and other family members may be invited to attend therapy with the child. Sometimes improving the relationship between parents and child can improve family interactions.
- Residential placement: In cases where a child’s or adolescent’s behavior has gotten out of control, a residential placement may be necessary to keep everyone safe. A therapeutic setting can address problems of substance abuse, sexualized behavior , or violence.
- Medications: There is no medication that treats conduct disorder. But sometimes a doctor can prescribe medication to treat some of the symptoms or to treat other underlying mental illnesses.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.