Symptoms of adjustment disorder vary widely and fall into three broad categories: depression, anxiety, and conduct. Specific symptoms may include tearfulness, feeling hopeless, nervous, and jittery, truancy from school, fighting and aggressive behaviors. Children and adolescents tend to have more behavioral symptoms compared to adults who are more likely to have depressive symptoms. An individual can have depression symptoms, anxiety or conduct symptoms or any combination of the three areas.

Adjustment disorder is diagnosed by a mental health professional after meeting with the child, family and, in some cases, school staff. Obtaining a family history, and identifying a specific stressor or series of stressors is important in the evaluation. The mental health professional explores how the individual coped with stressors prior to the one that caused the behavioral and emotional concerns.