Elizabeth Talbott
University of Illinois at Chicago

Kevin Callahan
University of North Texas

Boys dominate classes for students with emotional and behavioral disorders
( Callahan, 1994), referrals for mental health services ( Achenbach & Edel-
brock, 1981), and arrests for violent crime ( Chesney-Lind & Shelden, 1992).
However, girls' disruptive behavior disorders are as disturbing to parents
as the disorders of boys ( Moore & Mukai, 1983), and their disorders are
more likely than boys' to co-occur with depression, anxiety, and delinquency
during adolescence ( Loeber & Keenan, 1994). Furthermore, girls with a
history of disruptive behavior disorders during childhood are more likely
than girls without such a history to experience early sexuality and preg-
nancy, school dropout, and substance use during adolescence ( Cairns &
Cairns, 1994; Serbin, Peters, McAffer, & Schwartzman, 1991). Disruptive be-
havior disorders (i.e., conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder,
according to the DSM-IV), are the second most common of the psychiatric
disorders that girls experience ( American Psychiatric Association, 1994;
Zoccolillo, 1993). To prevent disruptive behavior disorders and their comor-
bid problems from continuing through adolescence, it is best to identify and
treat them early in the course of their development. However, girls' disrup-
tive behavior disorders may not be easily identified in childhood and they
do not proceed as clearly as the behavior disorders of boys. In this chapter,
we address critical issues in the study of girls' disruptive behavior disorders
across and within developmental periods. These issues include measure-
ment, prediction, and comorbidity.

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