A Approach Of Medication Therapy And Behavioral Therapy As...

Background Introduction Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) can be very unpredictable and difficult to care for. A child with ODD displays ongoing hostility, defiance, and uncooperative behavior toward authority figures (American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychology, 2011). This makes everyday life extremely difficult for both the child and the caregivers. Understanding how to reduce behaviors of hostility, defiance, and uncooperativeness in children with ODD will reduce the number of defiant episodes the child experiences. The reduction of defiant episodes will greatly benefit both the child and the caregivers in day to day life by increasing the child’s willingness to cooperate and obey authority figures.†¦show more content†¦Biopsychosocial factors appear to play a major role in the development of ODD. Boys are also more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ODD. Children with ODD have difficulty adjusting to social situations. Often times the child will display problematic behaviors such as tantrums, irritability, loss of temper, anger, emotional or touchy, argue and defiant, blames, spitefulness, and purposely annoy (Ezpeleta et la., 2012). In recent years it has been found that girls often display ODD behaviors differently than boys which could be why the rate of boys diagnosed is high than girls. Studies have found that girls are usually less physically aggressive but display name calling and bullying more than boys. These outbursts can be dangerous to the child and those around them as the child may become aggressive towards others. Without treatment life can difficult for the child. Everyday tasks can trigger an episode. Schooling can be difficult for the child as well. Later in life relationships and holding a job can become nearly impossible. Children diagnosed with ODD often have other underlying mental health conditions such as ADD and ADHD. Later in life the child is at greater risk of developing other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, conduct disorder (CD), and antisocial personality disorder