ABSTRACT
Mental health disorders in children and adolescents have been divided into disorders of conduct and disorders of emotion. Disorders of conduct are behaviours that are seen as problems, such as aggression, fire-setting or stealing; and disorders of emotion are feelings that are seen as problems, such as anxiety, depression or obsessions. Oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder can get easily confused with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is in the early onset group that biological problems can be missed: the behaviour is everyone’s main concern, social circumstances may be dire, and the parents may themselves be struggling with various sorts of adversity. Antisocial behaviour can be regarded as a disorder if there is impairment as well as behaviour that adults do not like. Behaviour problems sufficient to cause some impairment are common, affecting approximately 5% of children and 10% of adolescents.
