Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

 

While symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder typically do occur in children with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, mood symptoms of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder are relatively rare in children with oppositional defiant disorder. The key features that warrant the diagnosis of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder in children whose symptoms also meet criteria for oppositional defiant disorder are the presence of severe and frequently recurrent outbursts and a persistent disruption in mood between outbursts. In addition, the diagnosis of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder requires severe impairment in at least one setting (i.e., home, school, or among peers) and mild to moderate impairment in a second setting. For this reason, while most children whose symptoms meet criteria for disruptive mood dysregulation disorder will also have a presentation that meets criteria for oppositional defiant disorder, the reverse is not the case. That is, in only approximately 15% of individuals with oppositional defiant disorder would criteria for disruptive mood dysregulation disorder be met. Moreover, even for children in whom criteria for both disorders are met, only the diagnosis of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder should be made. Finally, both the prominent mood symptoms in disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and the high risk for depressive and anxiety disorders in follow-up studies justify placement of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder among the depressive disorders in DSM-5. (Oppositional defiant disorder is included in the chapter “Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders.”) This reflects the more prominent mood component among individuals with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, as compared with individuals with oppositional defiant disorder. Nevertheless, it also should be noted that disruptive mood dysregulation disorder appears to carry a high risk for behavioral problems as well as mood problems.