[Oppositional behavior in children and adolescents].

Opposition is a natural and beneficial process for children to shape their personality, it is a necessary step in their own and parents' life. It challenges the five rules governing children's life: parents' educational principles, school constraints, social rules, rules with "peers" and children's own rules. However, opposition can become pathological: symptoms of oppositional behaviors include defying requests, psychosomatic disorders in infants, offending behavior and oppositional defiant disorder. It is essential to identify them, encourage active family participation and look for a coexisting psychological condition. Oppositional disorders should be managed rapidly to prevent them from becoming chronic or evolving towards oppositional defiant or conduct disorders.