Title: Teaming up to fight behavioural disorders
Author: Martin Drinkwater and Emily Kwok
Category: Cool Science


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.

Image : Toddlers Today [external site]

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!