Parent-Child Conflict and the Comorbidity Among Childhood Externalizing Disorders

Abstract
RESEARCH HAS confirmed high levels of comorbidity among attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD).1-3 Of individuals with 1 of these diagnoses, 29% to 71% had at least 1 other diagnosis in epidemiological and clinical samples.4-6 Although no firm consensus exists regarding the meaning of this comorbidity, research3,4,7 has generally supported 2 interrelated conceptualizations: First, there exists a gradient upon which those with multiple disorders have more serious clinical courses with poorer outcomes and higher levels of the relevant genetic and/or environmental influences than individuals with single disorders. Second, these influences likely take the form of common vulnerabilities. However, the nature (ie, genetic or environmental) of these vulnerabilities remains unresolved.

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