Perceived family environment of parents of children with oppositional defiant disorder with or without comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Pages: 397-400
Rudrani Chatterjee (Clinical Psychologist, Department of Clinical Psychology Institute of Psychiatry, Kolkata, West Bengal)
Sanjukta Das (Department of Psychology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal)

Oppositional Defiant Disorder symptomatology is complicated by a complex interplay of emotional and behavioural factors and associated risk for co-morbidities and more severedisorders. The primary context for such manifestation is the family, which begins with how parents perceive and interpret the family. The current study investigates the family environmental variables of parents of boys with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) with or without co-morbid Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) from lower socioeconomic status (SES).Family Environment Scale, Kuppuswamy’s Socioeconomic Status Scale and Structured Clinical Interview with ICD 10 and ICD 10 DCR were administered to parents of boys with ODD with or without ADHD. Families of cases reported less acceptance caring and mothers additionally reported lower cohesion and organization than their age and SES matched counterparts. Findings resonate with the notion that families of children with disruptive behaviours, even though not severe enough to warrant diagnoses of conduct disorder, report higher discordance in their family environment.