children s health issues
Overview of Behavioral Problems in Children
Behavioral Problems and Parenting Style
Praise and reward can reinforce appropriate behavior. Sometimes parents end up giving their children attention only for inappropriate behavior, which can backfire when that is the only attention the children receive. Because most children prefer attention for inappropriate behavior to no attention at all, parents should create special times each day for pleasant interactions with their children to avoid increases in inappropriate behavior. A number of relatively minor problems of behavior may be due to parenting styles. Child–parent interaction problemsare difficulties in the relationship between children and their parents, which may begin during the first few months of life. The relationship may be strained because of A difficult pregnancy or delivery Postpartum Depression affecting the mother Inadequate support of the mother by the other parent, partner, relatives, or friends Disinterested parents Contributing to the strain of building a strong relationship are a baby’s unpredictable feeding and sleeping schedules. Most babies do not sleep through the night until 3 to 4 months of age. Poor relationships may slow development of mental and social skills and cause Failure to Thrive in Children . A doctor or nurse can discuss the temperament of an individual baby and offer the parents information on the development of babies and helpful tips for coping. The parents may then be able to develop more realistic expectations, accept their feelings of guilt and conflict as normal, and try to rebuild a healthy relationship. If the relationship is not repaired, the baby may continue to have problems later. Unrealistic expectationscontribute to the perception of behavioral problems. For example, parents who expect a 2-year-old child to pick up toys without help may mistakenly feel there is a behavioral problem. Parents may misinterpret other normal, age-related behaviors of a 2-year-old child, such as the refusal to follow an adult’s request or rule. A self-perpetuating cycleis a cycle in which a negative (angry) response from a parent or caregiver to a child's negative (inappropriate) behavior leads to further negative behavior by the child, which leads to continued negative responses from the parent or caregiver. The attention the child receives from the parent or caregiver often reinforces the child's inappropriate behavior. In self-perpetuating cycles, a child responds to stress and emotional discomfort with stubbornness, back talk, aggression, and resistance instead of crying. The parents or caregivers respond by scolding, yelling, and spanking. Self-perpetuating cycles also may result when parents react to a fearful, clinging, or manipulative child with overprotection and overpermissiveness. The self-perpetuating cycle may be broken if parents learn to ignore inappropriate behavior that does not negatively affect others, such as Temper Tantrums or refusals to eat. Redirecting the child's attention to interesting activities allows for the rewarding of desired behavior, which makes the child and parents or caregivers feel successful. For behavior that cannot be ignored, distraction or a Discipline problemsare inappropriate behaviors that develop when structure is ineffective. Discipline is more than just punishment. It is providing children with clear, structured, age-appropriate expectations that allow them to know what is expected. It is much easier and more satisfying to both parents and children to reward desirable behavior than to punish inappropriate behavior. In older children and adolescents, behavioral problems may arise as children seek to free themselves from parental rules and supervision (see Behavioral Problems in Adolescents ). Parents should learn how to distinguish such problems from occasional errors in judgment. 