The Child Developing Conduct Disorder Psychology Essay

Conduct disorder is a behavior problem that children and adolescents display characterized by continuous hostility and disobedience. Conduct disorder represents a wide range of demeanor in pre-adolescent children (3 to 12 years), as well as children who are adolescents (13 to 18 years). Usually, the behaviors that distinguish conduct disorder vary from relatively small behavior like whining, temper tantrums and yelling to physical destructiveness, stealing and aggression. According to Patrick (2010), conduct disorders is a behavior disorder that does not happen in seclusion, but rather reflect a class or pattern of behaviors. On the other hand, conduct disorder occur most frequently in the common population. Also, conduct disorders represents the largest referral percentage of children treatment occurring at an approximate rate of 3-10 children in every 100 children. Conduct disorder is more common in males than females. The likelihood of boys having conduct disorder is 3-4 times as compared to their counterparts girls. Children who have rigorous conducts disorders tend to display similar behavior patterns later in their lives. Therefore, when such children become mature people, they are in a greater possibility of showing more psychiatric and psychological impairments. The majority of research emphasize that conduct disorder in children is highly influenced by the role played by family interaction patterns, as well as the way in which families socializes their children. Genetic, medical, and biological factors also appear to be associated to the conduct disorders incidents in some children. Also, neurogical abnormalities or a head trauma history can also be related with conduct disorders that are aggressive. The maintenance and development of conduct disorder is influenced strongly when both environmental and biological factors are both present (Munoz & Frick, 2010). This essay discusses whether the parent’s relationship with their child has effects on the child developing conduct disorder.

The relationship between a child and parents plays a vital role in the development of conduct disorders in their children. According to research, the chances of children developing conduct disorder are related to high paternal alcoholism or paternal criminalism, maternal depression, as well as antisocial behavior in either of the parents. However, there exist two views why conduct disorder result from maternal depression. One of the views deems that depressed mothers misperceive the behavior of their children as inappropriate or maladjusted. On the other hand, the second view judge that the development of conduct disorder in children can be influenced by the manner in which depressed parents react to misbehaviors. Research indicates that mothers who are depressed direct a greater number of criticism and commands to their children. Under such circumstances, children react in response with an increased deviant and noncompliance behavior. Therefore, mothers who are depressed and irritable cause indirectly behavior problems in children by inconsistent setting of limits, emotional unavailability, as well as the reinforcement of behaviors that is inappropriate through unconstructive attention (Card & Little, 2012).

According to Pardini, Lochman and Powell (2012), the relationship of parents affects their child in having conduct disorder in several ways. Family aspects such as marital stress, divorce and violence affect parents, which in return impact the status of the relationship existing between children and their parents. Research indicates that inter-personal conflicts that surround divorce influence conduct disorder development in children. Usually, the events that surround divorce and separation start out a time of increased irritability and depression that result to the failure of friendship and support. As a result, such a state sets in place several risks of ineffective discipline, more irritability, as well as poor solving outcomes of problems. Therefore, ineffective solving of problems results to more depression. On the other hand, increase of behaviors that are irritable might simultaneously result to children becoming antisocial. Parental divorce and separation effects in the behavior of children reveal that the discord and conflict intensity among parents as compared to divorce is the major factor that influences conduct disorder in children. Children who have divorced parents and whose family is conflict free are less probable to have troubles as compared to children whose parents are not separated or divorced, but are continuously engaged in conflicts, or those parents who continue to have conflicts even after divorce. Furthermore, conflict between parents influences the behavior of parenting. Therefore, marital is associated with incoherent parenting; elevated punishment levels accompanied with concurrent decrease in rewards, as well as reasoning and parents taking a perception that is negative about the adjustment of their child.

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Parenting influences greatly the development of conduct disorders in children. Therefore, factors that impact parents contribute greatly to the way parents interact with their children. Such factors include life stressor like unemployment, poverty, ill health and overcrowding. Research indicates that the existences of key life stressors among families who have children with conduct disorders are four times higher as compared to other families (Patrick, 2010).

The parents of conduct disorder children frequently lack various vital parenting skills. Parents get reported for being critical and violent in using discipline, permissive and erratic, more inconsistent, less expected to monitor children, and more probable to punish behaviors that are pro-social and negative behaviors reinforcement. As a result, a process that is coercive get set in motion throughout which children avoids or escapes getting criticized by parents by the production of a higher number of bad behaviors. Therefore, these behaviors result to increasing aversive reactions from parents that serve to strengthen negative behaviors (Munoz & Frick, 2010).

Several studies indicate the impact that parental problems cause on conduct disorder, be it problems of behavior on a mother and father, couple dysfunction, parental alcoholism, post-natal maternal depression, and other dependence forms. Usually, the children whose father is substances dependent, more especially to alcohol and displays antisocial personality have a higher risk of developing conduct disorder. On the other hand, children whose mother displays antisocial personality have a higher likelihood of developing an enhanced conduct disorder (Murrie et al., 2012).

According to Moffitt et al. (2011), disturbances of a relationship that is depression related between the baby and the mother can have long-term consequences that are adverse on the child’s ability to control, and concentrate emotions. Usually, the child whose mother undergoes post-natal depression might represent a greater risk group. In a greater risk population, disturbances and attachment that are unsecure or relationship disruptions in the family aggravate considerably behavior problems risk among children. Attachment that are insecure between both parents and the child increase substantially the chances of developing conduct disorder, more especially when related with temperamental complexities, adverse events in the family, and parent-children relationships disturbances. This is clear indications that if a parent suffers from conduct disorder, then their child are more likely to suffer from it, as well. Children whose association to most important attachment figures gets disrupted at a young age are likely to exhibit directive and aggressive behavior to their parents, more especially when children get subjected to sexual abuse or violence. On the other hand, attachment disorder between a parent and a child compounded with dimensions such as temperament, family environment dysfunction, parental strategies that are unsuccessful and many others aggravate the future conduct disorder risk.

The attachment between a child and a parent can get involved in environmental or gene interactions, as a flexibility factor in cases where attachment becomes secure, or as a threat factor when attachment becomes insecure, more especially if the attachment becomes disorganized. Research indicates that there exists a relation between the disruption of the formation of families through divorce and consequent behavior that is aggressive delinquency and conduct disorder. On the other hand, parental attitudes that are deleterious and child-raising strategies that is inappropriate emerge as a characteristic of a family that is related to delinquency. Therefore, parenting styles tend to be vital when predicting oppositional and aggressive patterns of behavior. The failure by parents to offer sufficient control to the behavior of their children in primordial is just like inconsistency or excessively strict discipline. Parental unresponsiveness to absence from school or from home is a clear indication of delinquency and antisocial behavior, more especially in the settings that are underprivileged (Obradović et al., 2011).

The distress and conflicts that exist between parents, children and parents result to conduct disorders. Parents whose children are aggressive tend to become excessively coercive and commanding. On the other hand, parents whose children get involved in stealing become less involved and more distant with their offspring. Discipline in such families become excessive, inconsistent lacking, or inappropriate. Mothers reject their children while fathers become inconsistent or excessive in practicing discipline (Card & Little, 2012).

The diagnosis of conduct disorders vary in behaviors and symptoms. Children become aggressive of animals and people. They often threaten, bully and intimidate others. They also start physical fights, use weapons to harm others, become physically cruel to animals and people, and steal without confrontation. Children with conduct disorders engage in property destruction by deliberately setting fire that causes serious damages and even destroy the property of others without setting fire. They also engage in theft or deceitfulness by breaking into a car, building or someone’s house, cons other people, obtain goods through forgery and forcing someone into having sex. On the other hand, the children engage in serious violation of regulations and rules such as not staying at home, and dropping out of school. The children also exhibit loss of temper, arguing with adults, actively refuses or defies the adults’ requests, blaming others for their own mistakes, swears, becomes vindictive or spiteful, resentful or angry, and easily annoyed or irritable by others (Pardini, Lochman & Powell, 2012).

There are several symptoms and treatments that can be used to treat conduct disorders. However, treating adolescents and children who are suffering from conduct disorders proves to be intricate due to factors that are associated with a lot of complexity. The procedures of treatment care are mostly effective when children are young, and also during the early stage of the conduct disorder development. According to research, the treatment that is most effective are cognitive skills training in problem-solving, multisystem therapy, training parent management, and practical family therapy. Therefore, for treatments to become successful, the families of the children who have conduct disorder need to become closely involved. They can study the techniques that can assist them manage the behavior problems of their children (Lacourse, 2011).

From the previous research, it is apparent that as conduct disorder emerges from childhood, it persists as children become adolescents. The major factors being the family coupled with high comorbidity rates, recurrence and treatment resistance. The research indicate that children, as well as adolescents who become involved in behaviors and actions that are norm-breaking, impulsive and aggressive experience several problems when they become young adults inclusive of attainment of truncated education, relationship conflict, persistent unemployment, problems with physical health, and teen parenthood and pregnancy. These individuals show early and emerging behaviors of aggression control difficulties and norm breaking since they might have been brought up in surroundings that had considerable social disadvantage by parents. Children who possess considerable significant conduct problems develop and become parents that expose their children to extensive adversity. Even if conduct disorder that is early emerging can be linked to the causes of difficulties that people experience in the workplace, relationship domains, family, it is not casual or direct. Usually, people who get diagnosed on adolescent or childhood undergo problems in the workplace, relationship domains, family, as well as friends might have already been undergoing psychosocial difficulties in childhood and adolescence, which predict they way that they function in the future. On the other hand, people who get diagnosed with conduct disorder in adolescent or childhood are probable to undergo recurring conduct disorder that result to the causes of the manner dysfunction when they become adults. According to research, the theory includes physiological influences, genetic predispositions, social, environmental and familial influences, as well as the characteristics individual. Therefore, these factors exist in a combination and not isolation. Usually, the pervasiveness of the fore mentioned factors might decrease or increase the probability of children developing conduct disorder (Viding et al., 2010).

Various family dysfunction types contribute greatly to the conduct disorder formation in children. The relationship that exist in family dysfunction can only be viewed in a three fundamental type relationships: bi-directional, meditational, and the third variable in which the family might influence directly conduct disorder development, the child’s unsociable behavior might attribute towards the dysfunction of the family or a variable that is unrelated might affect negatively the child, as well as the family. On the other hand, conduct disorders can be expressed differently among children because of onset age and the comorbidity issues. Factors such as physiological, sociological, and environmental, aspects influence the conduct disorder development among adolescents and children.  They interrelate with nature and manifest themselves in various points of the development of the child. From the provided research information, it is apparent that conduct disorders tend to be frequent, chronic and intense among adolescents and children. Therefore, this raises a potential concern or problem owing to the truth that the difficulties in adolescents and childhood can lead to psychopathology development. The factors complexity needs examination that is extensive on such factors since life experiences with social institutions, peers, as well as parents impose socio-cultural and biological dispositions contexts that manipulate the behavior onset (Lacourse, 2011).

In conclusion, conduct disorder in children can be highly influenced by the family interaction patterns and the approach in which families socializes their children. Therefore, relationship of parents affects their child in having conduct disorder in several ways. Family aspects such as marital stress, divorce and violence affect parents that in return impact the status of the relationship existing between children and their parents. On the other hand, the technique of parenting influences greatly the development of conduct disorders in children. From the essay, it is apparent that the answer is yes, parent’s relationship has effects on a child developing conduct disorder.