Children and adolescents who "act out" their feelings, frustrations, and emotional conflicts are said to exhibit externalizing behavior. Within the framework of the American Psychiatric Association's DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL, 3rd edition, revised (DSM-III-R), once a certain level of severity is demonstrated, these youth qualify for the umbrella diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorder. Three disorders are encompassed within this general diagnostic category: (1) attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (2) CONDUCT DISORDER (CD); and (3) oppositional defiant disorder.

It should be noted that in recent years some controversy has developed concerning diagnostic techniques. It has been suggested that with the introduction of the American Psychiatric Association's DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL, fourth edition (DSM-IV) in 1994, accurately diagnosing ADHD in adults has become problematic "because of the vague nature of the criteria" in DSM-IV (Higgins, 1999). Comparatively, in more recent studies, a different approach for administrating the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for...