Children with ADHD are easily distracted, disorganized, and they may have difficulty sitting still. Children with ODD are often described as angry, defiant, or ...ADHDandODD:What’stheConnection?MedicallyreviewedbyTimothyJ.Legg,Ph.D.,CRNP—WrittenbyValenciaHigueraonJanuary30,2019ConnectionSymptomsDiagnosisTreatmentsCausesFindinghelpTakeawayActingoutistypicalchildhoodbehavioranddoesn’talwaysmeanachildhasabehavioraldisorder.Somechildren,however,haveapatternofdisruptivebehavior.Thismayeventuallyleadtoadiagnosisofattentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder(ADHD)oroppositionaldefiantdisorder(ODD).ChildrenwithADHDareeasilydistracted,disorganized,andtheymayhavedifficultysittingstill.ChildrenwithODDareoftendescribedasangry,defiant,orvindictive.WhathappenswhenADHDandODDoccurtogether?ODDisrelatedtoachild’sconductandhowtheyinteractwiththeirfamily,friends,andteachers.ADHDisaneurodevelopmentaldisorder.Theseconditionsaredifferent,butcanoccurtogether.SomeseeminglydefiantsymptomsmayberelatedtoimpulsivityinADHD.Infact,it’sbelievedthatabout40percentofchildrenwithadiagnosisofADHDalsohaveODD.Though,justlikeADHD,notallchildrendiagnosedwithODDhaveADHD.AchildwhoonlyhasADHDmaybefullofenergyorgetoverlyexcitedwhenplayingwithclassmates.Thiscansometimesleadtoroughhousingandcausingunintendedharmtoothers.ChildrenwithADHDmayalsothrowtantrums.Butthisisn’tatypicalsymptomofthedisorder.Instead,thetantrumcanbeanimpulseoutburstduetofrustrationorboredom.IfthesamechildhasODD,notonlydotheyhaveissueswithimpulsecontrol,butalsowithanangryorirritablemoodwhichcanleadtophysicalaggression.Thesechildrenmayhavetantrumsduetoaninabilitytocontroltheirtemper.Theymaybespiteful,upsetothersonpurpose,andblameothersfortheirownmistakes.Inadditiontogettingoverlyexcitedandhurtingaclassmatewhileplaying,theymightlashoutandblametheclassmateandthenrefusetoapologize.It’simportanttonotethattraitsofODDandADHDcanalsooccurwithlearningdisabilitiesandotherconductdisorders.Careshouldbetakenbyaprovidertogetaclearpictureoftheoverallsymptomsbeforem