Why do some children have conduct disorder?
“There appear to be several pieces of this “jigsaw” puzzle, including genetic, nutritional and biochemical, family and social factors. Children with CD may inherit decreased autonomic nervous system activity, requiring greater stimulation to achieve optimal arousal.”2 Serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the brain play a role in aggression. There are also family factors that increase the risk for conduct disorder. These include parental substance abuse, psychiatric illness, marital conflict, child abuse and neglect. In therapy parents are counseled to communicate more clearly with their children, to set consistent behavior guidelines, to reinforce good behavior and to set consistent penalties for noncompliance. Drugs are sometimes used to help children with conduct disorder although there are no formally approved medications for conduct disorder and there have been few studies that have studied the effectiveness and safety of these drugs for children with CD. Stimulants such as Dex
