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Conduct disorder is a persistent pattern of behavior involving serious violations of others' rights or major age-appropriate rules. The clinical definition requires more than occasional misbehavior or a disagreement with an adult.

Its distinction from oppositional defiant disorder concerns the type and severity of the pattern, not an inevitable progression from one diagnosis to another. Developmental context and accompanying difficulties remain relevant.^[ref]

Oppositional defiant disorder is a pattern of persistent irritability, argumentative or defiant behavior, or vindictiveness that exceeds what is developmentally expected and causes significant difficulty. Occasional disagreement or resistance alone is insufficient to define the disorder.

It is distinct from conduct disorder, whose defining pattern involves serious violations of others' rights or major rules. Describing the pattern and context is more informative than treating either diagnosis as a judgment of character.^[ref]