Teacher-Reported Irritable and Defiant Dimensions of Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Social, Behavioral, and Academic Correlates

Abstract

Previous research suggests that the symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) reflect both a general diagnostic construct and two distinct symptom dimensions, irritability and defiant behavior. Recent studies have found that these two symptom dimensions exhibit different patterns of correlates and outcomes (e.g., irritability linked to depressive symptoms, defiant behavior linked to conduct problems). The present study investigated common and unique correlates of the irritable and defiant dimensions of ODD symptoms in a sample of 706 school-age children (49 % female, ages 5–12) in grades K-5. Classroom teachers rated their students’ ODD symptoms, proactive and reactive aggression, relational and physical aggression and victimization, withdrawn/depressed symptoms, peer rejection, and academic performance. Multilevel regression models—controlling for grade level, gender, and shared variance between symptom dimensions and variable subtypes—showed that teacher-reported irritability and defiant behavior exhibit common correlates of physical and relational aggression, relational victimization, and peer rejection. With respect to differential correlates, irritability was uniquely associated with physical victimization and withdrawn/depressed symptoms, whereas defiant behavior was uniquely associated with proactive aggression and hyperactive–impulsive symptoms. Further, reactive aggression was more strongly linked to irritability than to defiant behavior. These findings provide further support for a multidimensional conceptualization of ODD symptoms within the school context and suggest that irritability and defiant behavior have important implications across several domains of children’s social–emotional development.