What is oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)?
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a behavior disorder, usually diagnosed in childhood, that is characterized by uncooperative, defiant, negativistic, irritable, and annoying behaviors toward parents, peers, teachers, and other authority figures. Children and adolescents with ODD are more distressing or troubling to others than they are distressed or troubled themselves. What causes oppositional defiant disorder? While the cause of ODD is not known, there are two primary theories offered to explain the development of ODD. A developmental theory suggests that the problems begin when children are toddlers. Children and adolescents who develop ODD may have had a difficult time learning to separate and become autonomous from the primary person to whom they were emotionally attached. The “bad attitudes” characteristic of ODD are viewed as a continuation of the normal developmental issues that were not adequately resolved during the toddler years. Learning theory suggests, however, that
