KIND: Disruptive Behavior
Course

KIND: Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Time limit: 360 days

$150 Enroll

Full course description

This comprehensive course on Disruptive Behavior Disorders provides a deep dive into understanding and managing behavioral challenges across developmental stages. The curriculum is organized into five progressive levels, beginning with fundamental definitions, epidemiology, and the impact of disruptive behaviors in neurodevelopmental and developmental disability populations. Levels 2 and 3 explore early identification and presentation of trauma, anxiety, and ADHD, alongside mental status evaluations for young children. Advanced levels cover practical interventions, including behavioral strategies, therapies, and family support plans. With hands-on insights through a dedicated case study, this course equips allied and medical professionals with evidence-based tools to support children and families affected by disruptive behavior disorders.

 

The Disruptive Behavior Disorders Chapter spans 25 topics across five levels of instruction. Levels 1 and 2 provide foundational knowledge beneficial for medical professionals and allied professionals, including educators, social workers, therapists, and psychologists.

Levels 3 to 5 shift to a more clinical focus, offering advanced insights geared toward medical doctors and sub-specialists.


Chapter Editor

 

Joyce Harrison, MD serves as staff psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Mental Health ProgramLinks to an external site. at Kennedy Krieger Institute, with special interest in infant and preschool psychiatry.   She is the Project Director for Kennedy Krieger Institutes Network for Early Childhood Tele-education (KKI-NECT), which provides tele-consultation for pediatric primary care providers in rural and underserved areas.  She also serves as an assistant professor of psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Harrison’s research interests focus on infant and preschool mental health training and interventions, school and community-based services, and behavioral health integration into primary care.

 

Content, Featured Experts, and Learner Groups 

 

Level

Neurodevelopmental Topic Content

Featured Expert

Learner Group(s)

Level 1

1.1 Definition/EPI of DBD and Risk Conditions

Joyce Harrison, MD

Allied professionals

Medical Professionals

Sub-Specialist Professionals

1.2 DBD in NDD/DD population

Carmen Lopez-Arvizu, MD

Level 2

2.1 Presentation and Identification of Trauma in Infants and Preschoolers

Joyce Harrison, MD

Allied professionals

Medical Professionals

Sub-Specialist Professionals

2.2 Developmental Delay-Language vs Intellectual Disability

Mary Leppert, MB BCH 

2.3 ADHD in preschoolers

Joyce Harrison, MD

2.4 Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Joyce Harrison, MD

2.5 Presentation and Screening of Anxiety

Joyce Harrison, MD

2.6 Emotional and Behavioral Dysregulation in Early Childhood

Joyce Harrison, MD

2.7 ADHD Screening

Charles (Chuck)  Conlon, MD

Level 3

3.1 The 8 S's

Mary Leppert, MB BCH

Medical Professionals

Sub-Specialist Professionals

3.2 Physical Exam Considerations in Children with DBD

Mary Leppert, MB BCH

3.3 Infant and Toddler Mental Status Exam

Dr. Joyce Harrison

Level 4

4.1 Considerations in ADHD Treatment

Mary Leppert, MB BCH 

Medical Professionals

Sub-Specialist Professionals

4.2 Behavioral Strategies for Addressing Disruptive Behavior Problems

Aime Bettencourt, Ph.D.

4.3 Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

Jennifer Serico, PhD

4.4 Prescribing Therapies for Externalizing Behaviors

Joyce Harrison, MD

4.5 Preventing Tantrums

Nancy Grace, MD

4.6 Treating Aggression

Carmen Lopez-Arvizu, MD

4.7 Individual Family Service Plans and Functional Behavior Assessments for Early Childhood

Mallory Legg, Esq.

4.8 Strategies to Address Disruptive Behavior Problems in School

Aime Bettencourt, Ph.D.

4.9 Everyday Situations: Increasing Compliance Among Children with ADHD

Nancy Grace, MD

4.10 Chicago Parent Program

Aime Bettencourt, Ph.D.

4.11 Trauma vs. PTSD: How and When to Treat

Joyce Harrison, MD

Level 5

5.1 Natural History of Aggression

Mary Leppert, MB BCH

Medical Professionals

Sub-Specialist Professionals

Case Study

Disruptive Behavior Disorders Case Scenario

N/A

All Learners

 


What is the KIND Curriculum?

 

 

 

Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

The Terms of Use and Privacy Policy set forth on the Kennedy Krieger Institute website apply to any and all uses of and access to this site and the content found here.


The learning materials contained in the KIND Curriculum (“Learning Materials”) include publicly available medical evidence, expert opinion, and the experiential knowledge of the subject matter experts identified in the KIND Curriculum.

 

The Learning Materials are intended only to provide general information and need to be adapted for individualized patient care based on each practitioners’ professional judgment, unique patient circumstances, and other pertinent factors. The Learning Materials are not intended to constitute general medical advice or treatment or advice or treatment for any particular patient. The Learning Materials are not intended to create a doctor-patient relationship between/among Kennedy Krieger Institute, its physicians and individual patients or their family members or caregivers. Kennedy Krieger Institute makes no warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the currency, completeness, applicability, or accuracy of the Learning Materials.

To the extent that the Learning Materials include information regarding drug dosing, every effort will be made to identify when drug or medical device information included in the Learning Materials is not in agreement with FDA approval or guidance. However, it is the responsibility of the practitioner to ascertain FDA dosing recommendations and approval status of prescribed drugs and devices in their clinical practices. 


Kennedy Krieger Institute and its employees and agents are not responsible for errors or omissions in the Learning Materials.  Each professional practitioner caring for a patient is solely and exclusively responsible for the patient care of such patient.

 

The Learning Materials are protected by copyright laws and in some cases patent laws, and all rights are reserved under such laws. No part of the Learning Materials may be reproduced in any form by any means, or utilized in any other way, absent prior written permission from the copyright owner.