Conduct Disorder Assessment Tools

Conduct Disorder is a serious mental illness that is diagnosed in childhood. According to the DSM-IV-TR, which is the diagnostic guide used by psychologists and psychiatrists, conduct disorder may be diagnosed, "When a child seriously misbehaves with aggressive or nonaggressive behaviors against people, animals or property that may be characterized as belligerent, destructive, threatening, physically cruel, deceitful, disobedient, or dishonest. This may include stealing, intentional injury, and forced sexual activity." Additionally, conduct disorder involves a pervasive pattern of behavior that has been ongoing for at least one year.

The Child Behavior Checklist

• Behavioral psychologist Thomas Achenback developed the Child Behavior Checklist in the late 1980s. This tool has various checklists for parents, teacher and the child to complete regarding specific behaviors from the child. The checklist then rates the child's behavior on different scales, including, but not limited to, scales that measure levels of aggressive and delinquent behavior. The advantage of this tool lies in that it takes into account the opinions of the child, but also the observations of those who spend time with them such as parents and teachers.

The Rorschach Test

• Psychologist Hermann Rorschach developed the Rorschach Inkblot test in 1921. The test consists of 10 cards with ambiguous inkblots that are shown to the child. The child describes what they see in each card and a trained clinical psychologist records and analyzes the response. The Rorschach is a projective test because it is thought that the child's inner thoughts, feelings and drives are unconsciously projected onto the blots and communicated through their responses. Though controversial, the Rorschach Inkblot Test remains a crucial part of a basic battery of psychological tests, in part, because it picks up clearly on anger issues and issues related to conduct disorder and troubled interpersonal relationships.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Adolescent Version

• The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for Adolescents (MMPI-A) debuted in 1943 and then was revised in 1989. The test involves 478 true or false questions that are answered by the child. The results are then interpreted and yield an in-depth examination of the personality. Scales include basic clinical scales for issues such as depression, anxiety, and psychotic tendencies. However, the test also has subscales that give information about the child's acting-out behaviors, as well as providing indications of antisocial, or conduct disordered, tendencies. Though the test relies on the child's feelings and beliefs about their own behavior, the MMPI-A is quite sophisticated and provides information about the child's response style in order to limit random answering of the items, as well as outright lying on the part of the child.