Exploring the relationship difficulties of Iranian adolescents with conduct disorder: a qualitative content analysis

Conduct disorder is characterized by aggressive behaviors, deceitfulness or theft, destruction of property and serious violations of rules prior to age 18 years. The object relations theory provides an integrative model to understand the problems of conduct disorder, and proposes that child-caregiver relationships develop the internal working models of self and others. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship difficulties of Iranian adolescents with conduct disorder.

This study was a qualitative directed content analysis research. The in-depth interview was conducted with nine male adolescents aged 12-17 years who had conduct disorder with or without substance use disorder at the reformatory in Tehran. All tape-recorded data were fully transcribed and analyzed.

The relations with different objects including parents, siblings, relatives, friends, peers, teachers, other school members, colleagues and employers were analyzed, and four themes were extracted: 1) Object relations based on insecurity and fear; 2) Object relations based on inability and abjection; 3) Object relations based on pessimism and mistrust; 4) Object relations based on non-maintenance of boundaries and limits.

The importance of object relations and attachment problems in adolescents with conduct disorder, and their need to participate in special intervention programs should be reconsidered.