The Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) concept can provide useful information for preventing juvenile delinquency and its aggravation. However, Japan has seen few quantitative studies. For the first time in Japan, we examined ODD using item response theory and clarified its relationship with various problem behaviors. Juveniles detained in juvenile classification homes were asked for retrospective self-report of ODD symptoms in elementary school. The reliability coefficient was calculated for valid responses (N＝1628, Mean Age＝16.8; α＝.86, ω＝.90). Item response theory revealed moderate discriminating power for each symptom item. No gender or age differences were detected in differential functioning. Regarding the validity of the latent trait θ of ODD (ODDθ), when child independence support facility history was used as an index, AUC＝.70, and discrimination accuracy was moderate. ODDθ was superior to the number of symptoms in terms of discrimination accuracy. Conduct Disorder (CD) was significantly positively correlated with ODDθ (r＝.44). In age of onset CD subtypes, mean ODDθ was significantly higher in the order of childhood-onset＞adolescent-onset＞CD-negative. Callous-unemotional traits were significantly positively correlated with ODDθ (r＝.27). ODDθ was significantly associated with dangerous driving, domestic violence, suicide attempts, and bullying victims.
