| Teaming
up to fight behavioural disorders
Martin
Drinkwater and Emily Kwok
When
a child becomes violent and aggressive a loving parent
can often become a child’s best friend.
An
increasing number of young children suffer from a psychological
illness eg. conduct and oppositional problems. Parental
‘support’ can prove to be an effective source of treatment.
Preliminary
studies by the US National Institute of Mental Health
suggest that up to 25% of children may suffer from conduct
and/or oppositional problems. A child suffering from a
conduct disorder may fail to show appropriate respect
for authority by engaging in behaviour such as stealing,
bullying and inflicting harm on others. A child suffering
from an oppositional disorder may derive pleasure from
engaging in temper tantrums and acting in ways that annoy
others. These symptoms must be consistently observed over
a period of time before a disorder can be diagnosed.
Parents
are emotionally attached to their children and spend a
lot of time with them in their infant years. They can
be an effective tool in treating a child who has been
diagnosed with a behavioural disorder with symptoms such
as aggression and violence.
This
help is essential as conduct and oppositional problems
can have profound effects on a child's learning, as well
as their interaction with their peers and the environment.
Experiments have shown that the most effective forms of
treatment for a child with a behavioural disorder are
those where parents are actively involved; here the parent
effectively acts as the child's therapist or counsellor.
Parents
can monitor, praise and reward positive behaviours by
employing a ‘carrot and stick’ approach. Problem behaviours
can be ‘ignored’ by listening empathetically when a child
first complains but actively ignoring the child during
repeated, excessive complaints. This is one way of teaching
a child to recognize and distinguish behaviours that are
socially acceptable from those that are not.
Parents
can undergo training to develop valuable negotiation and
problem-solving skills, leading to them being able to
observe, identify and record their child’s behavioural
problems. Parents are always at risk of becoming possible
victims of emotional anxiety themselves, though. To counter
this problem, training is supplemented with skills to
help parents deal with their own stresses, so that the
whole family works together and benefits from the treatment
– teaming up to fight!
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