| Summary: | This paper presents a review of the literature within the field of childhood onset disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD). Recent research in this area has focused on identifying risk factors, developmental pathways and causal mechanisms involved in DBD. Focus on these areas has led to somewhat of a neglect of intrinsic factors, which may also play a role in the development and maintenance of DBD and prove important to increase our understanding of how best to intervene with individuals with these difficulties. This review presents a brief introduction to the area and then considers the evidence for intrinsic factors being implicated in DBD. Initially cognitive factors are explored, in particular examining cognitive processes such as avoidance of responsibility, which has been proposed to play a role in maintaining disruptive behaviour. The review then moves on to explore emotional factors, including the distinction between children exhibiting callous-unemotional traits and those without this emotional profile. The review considers whether there is any evidence to consider any other emotional factors in a model of disruptive behaviour, focusing in particular on whether there is a role for shame. Finally a hypothetical model of the maintenance of disruptive behaviour is presented, integrating both emotional and cognitive factors. The implications of such a model on future research are discussed.
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