Conduct and Mood Disorders: An Overview

Exam Tip: If a question asks about the difference between LCP and AL paths, focus on the age of onset. LCP starts in childhood (pre-10), while AL starts at puberty.

Behavioral and Cognitive Dimensions

Conduct problems are often viewed through the lens of externalizing behavior, a spectrum of impulsive, aggressive, and delinquent acts. Several theories and features explain these behaviors:

• Callous and Unemotional (CU) Interpersonal Style: A specific subset of CD characterized by a lack of empathy, lack of remorse or guilt, and an uncaring attitude. This is often associated with psychopathic features, such as deceitful and manipulative behavior.
• Hostile Attributional Bias: A cognitive distortion where aggressive children tend to attribute negative or malicious intent to the actions of others.
• Social-Cognitive Deficits: Deficits in facial expression recognition, eye contact, and immature forms of thinking contribute to poor social interactions.
• Relational Aggression: Unlike physical bullying, this is a form of indirect aggression aimed at damaging a person's social status or relationships.

Theoretical Frameworks

• Coercion Theory: Suggests that parent-child interactions can act as a training ground, where certain behaviors are reinforced through negative cycles.
• Social Selection Hypothesis: Proposes that individuals with certain traits tend to select environments populated by similar people, reinforcing their behavior.
• Amplifier Hypothesis: Suggests that environmental stress can amplify the maladaptive predispositions of parents, making them less able to support their children.

Mood Disorders

Mood disorders represent a spectrum ranging from severe depression to extreme mania. They involve significant disruptions in emotion regulation—the process by which emotional arousal is modified to allow for adaptive functioning.

Major Depressive and Persistent Disorders

• Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): Characterized by five or more symptoms (including mood, cognitive, psychomotor, or somatic symptoms) present for at least a two-week period. Key symptoms include anhedonia (loss of interest) and irritability.
• Persistent Depressive Disorder (P-DD/Dysthymia): A more chronic form of depression involving a depressed or irritable mood over a long period.
• Double Depression: This occurs when an individual with existing P-DD experiences a superimposed episode of MDD.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)

DMDD is distinguished by chronic, severe, and persistent irritability. This is a critical diagnosis to differentiate from standard MDD, as it focuses on the pervasive nature of the irritability.

Cognitive Theories of Depression

Depression is often maintained by specific cognitive patterns:

1. Negative Cognitive Triad: A pattern of negative views regarding the self, the world, and the future.
2. Negative Cognitive Schemata: Stable, self-critical memory structures and beliefs that reinforce a negative self-image.
3. Hopelessness Theory: Proposes that depression-prone individuals make internal, stable, and global attributions to explain negative events.
4. Depressive Ruminative Style: A tendency to engage in repetitive, negative thinking about one's problems.

Key Terminology Check:

• Dysphoria: Excessive unhappiness (the opposite of euphoria).
• Co-rumination: A negative form of peer discussion where individuals focus narrowly on problems or emotions.

The Diathesis-Stress Model

A central framework in understanding mood disorders is the diathesis-stress model. This theory proposes that depression results from the interaction between an individual's biological or psychological risk factors (diathesis) and environmental stressors.

Summary Table of Key Concepts