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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffBehavioral and mental health conditions are difficult to diagnose definitively. There's no blood test or imaging technique that can pinpoint an exact cause of behavioral symptoms, though these tests are sometimes used to rule out certain conditions. Physicians and other health professionals rely on:
- Their clinical judgment and experience
- Information gathered from parents and teachers, who may fill out questionnaires
- Information gained from interviewing the child
Normal child and adolescent behavior and development can be challenging in their own right, but ODD is distinct due to the frequent and significant disruptions that are caused in the child's life at home, school, or in a job where authority figures have clear limits and expectations for behavior.
It can be difficult for doctors to sort and exclude other associated disorders — for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder versus oppositional defiant disorder. These two disorders are commonly diagnosed together.
