Incidence and comorbidities of disruptive behavior disorders diagnosed in Finnish specialist psychiatric services

Multiple needs and multiple treatments. What's a clinician to do? Update on the psychosocial treatment of disruptive behaviours in childhood

“…Defining clinical presentations for ESTs based on diagnostic criteria also reduces their applicability for children with comorbid mental health problems. The signficance of this challenge becomes apparent in real-world clinical settings where comorbidity is the rule rather than exception, with over half of children with one diagnosable disorder also having a second disorder [ 44 , 45 ]. However, the impact of comorbidity on treatment effectiveness is mixed and there is a growing body of research to show that commonly used treatments for disruptive behaviour are beneficial for children with comorbid conditions [ 46 , 47 ].…”

“…Treatments are being developed to target the common and unique biobehavioural underpinnings of disruptive behaviour. These include transdiagnostic treatments that target underlying processes shared across diagnoses [45,46], as well as stratified interventions targeting underlying pathological and maintaining processes specific to subgroups with differential pathways to disruptive behaviour [34]. This is especially noteworthy for children with disruptive behaviour who often present with comorbid disorders and challenges, where targeting shared rather than specific causal processes may be critical to clinical success [58][59][60][61].…”