Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Biological Factors

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a mental health disorder whose essential features are a frequent and persisting pattern of angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, or vindictiveness that is clearly more frequent, more intense, and more persistent across the child’s development than is typically observed in individuals of similar age and developmental level. ODD is one of the most common disorders among children in clinical mental health and behavioral disorder populations. Rates ranging between 28% and 65% are reported in clinical samples. Community prevalence rates range between 2.6% and 15.6%. Prior to adolescence, boys show higher prevalence rates than girls. However, in adolescence boys and girls show equal rates of ODD.

Etiology

There are presently few studies into biological risk factors specifically for ODD. Generally, biological studies combine ...

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