Conduct disorder
specific developmental disorder marked by a pattern of repetitive behavior wherein the rights of others or social norms are violated
Conduct disorder (CD) is a mental disorder diagnosed in childhood or adolescence that is characterized by a repetitive and persistent pattern of antisocial behavior involving the violation of the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate norms. These behaviors may include theft, lying, physical violence, destruction, and rule-breaking. Conduct disorder is often seen as the precursor to antisocial personality disorder; however, the latter, by definition, cannot be diagnosed until the individual is 18 years old. Conduct disorder may result from parental rejection and neglect and in such cases can be treated with family therapy, as well as behavioral modifications and pharmacotherapy. It may also be caused by environmental lead exposure. Conduct disorder is estimated to affect 51.1 million people globally as of 2013.
Signs and symptoms
One of the symptoms of conduct disorder is a lower level of fear. Research performed on the impact of toddlers exposed to fear and distress shows that negative emotionality (fear) predicts toddlers' empathy-related response to distress. The findings support that if a caregiver is able to respond to infant cues, the toddler has a better ability to respond to fear and distress. If a child does not learn how to handle fear or distress the child will be more likely to lash out at other children.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Conduct disorder” is specific developmental disorder marked by a pattern of repetitive behavior wherein the rights of others or social norms are violated. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Conduct, disorder and specific, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q596474. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2013.
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This entry incorporates text from “Conduct disorder” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.