Strategies for Children With Oppositional Defiance Disorder

Oppositional Defiance Disorder, also known as Oppositional Defiant Disorder or ODD, is a disorder affecting school-age children that is characterized by uncooperative and hostile behavior towards authority figures, sometimes to the point that it seriously interferes with the child's day-to-day life.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of Oppositional Defiance Disorder may include excessive arguing with adults, temper tantrums, refusal to comply with requests from parents or other adults, common anger and resentment, vengeful activities or deliberate attempts to irritate or upset others. ODD occurs in somewhere between 2 percent and 16 percent of the population, and can lead to other disorders or can be associated with other disorders such as ADD, ADHD, depression and anxiety disorders. It is recommended that a child showing symptoms of ODD be taken to a doctor for a comprehensive evaluation.

Parental Strategies

• Parenting a child who shows signs of oppositional defiant disorder can be stressful. There are some techniques that may be helpful in dealing with your child. Firstly, emphasize the positives, and be sure to reward and give praise for cooperation and other nondefiant behaviors. Secondly, make sure that you don't dig yourself a hole that is too deep--pick your battles. It may not be worth the added parental anxiety to try to win certain arguments. Along the same lines, remember that your child is not going to give up--children are stubborn--and is certainly not going to see your side in an argument. Instead of banging your head against a wall and making things worse by arguing or trying to punish your child, occasionally it's best to take a timeout so your reactions will stay measured and mature. It's OK to encourage your child to take a timeout himself to avoid overreacting. Put in place reasonable and age-appropriate rules, including rules for rewarding good behavior.

Remember Yourself

• Parenting a child with ODD can be, at times, all-consuming, but this is, part of the problem. When parents become stressed with constant disobedience or defiance, they become terser and shorter with their kids, stressed out, tired or worn down. This, of course, makes the ODD more entrenched; a child with defiant tendencies will not give up in this case, and will generally push back harder. Instead, try to maintain other interests than caring for your child with ODD, and seek to maintain calm and balance. Exercise or meditation can be helpful. It's important to recognize that ODD is a children's disorder that can only be solved by a parental solution, and if the parents are working backward by trying to enforce even more strict rules in response to defiance, it's likely to be counterproductive. The calmer and more reasonable you are, the more likely that your child will be calm and reasonable.