Les troubles du comportement chez l'enfant : approche nosographique et psychopathologique

After a brief recall of the importance of the notion of behaviour in psychology, of its multiple functions and of the complexity underlying this concept. the entries included by ICD 10 and DSM III and IV under the terms "behaviour and conduct disorders" are described. We discuss the nosological status of these diagnosis and the use for deviant behaviours of a medical model in which neurobiological and/or genetic factors are prominent. Contrary to this reductionist position, we sustain the necessity of a psychopathological approach taking account of a polyfactorial model of psychic development, which integrates psychodynamic factors of structuration of personality as well as neuroscience issues. Such a perspective seems to us better represented by the French Classification of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders, in which behaviour disorders are considered as symptoms which can present in various psychopathological structures.