Out of control, aggressive, and mean behavior in a child is frightening for parents and may indicate that a child suffers from conduct disorder. Learn about this serious, debilitating illness, what treatments are available, and how parents can effectively help a child in this situation.

It is Monday morning in a bright, cheerful, suburban preschool. The children have arrived full of energy and enthusiasm, ready to begin another week of discovery. Before the class time even begins, it starts. Crying. Running to the teacher. "What happened?" It's Joey again. "He hit me for no reason!" The teacher sighs. It is going to be another long week of dealing with Joey, her "problem" child. Temper tantrums, destroying books and toys, taking the other children's personal items and hitting other children then denying it have become daily rituals in the classroom.

At home, Joey's mom, a single mother does not have it much better. Joey kicks the cat, refuses to follow directions or perform simple chores, goes into her personal items and destroys them and lately she has caught him setting two small fires in his room. Both mother and teacher find themselves asking, "What is wrong with Joey?" After multiple visits to the pediatrician and later to a psychiatrist, the answer is discovered. Joey is diagnosed with conduct disorder.

Conduct disorder is a serious diagnosis well known to mental health professionals. The majority of children presented to mental health providers are diagnosed with conduct disorder. Usually thought of as occurring in adolescence, the disorder involves children of any age who seem to feel no empathy for others and are involved in persistent and serious patterns of breaking rules and harming others.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV, the handbook for diagnosing mental disorders, the diagnosis of conduct disorder is made when a child exhibits symptoms from these four categories: aggression to people or animals, deliberate property damage, repeated violations of rules or laws, and persistent lying. These behaviors must be ongoing and repetitive, not merely occasional breaking of rules or being disobedient.