Understanding Common Childhood Behavioral Disorders

Most children at one point or another misbehave and test the limits of parental authority or generally do things that remind you that they are children. Children, due to their developmental nature of maturing, experience stages of biological and cognitive growth that reflect increased abilities to think, reason, and display emotion. In addition, children begin to understand the emotions of others and express themselves verbally. Researchers believe that behavioral disorders are the result of a combination of factors (multifactorial) that involve the environment, genetics, biological, and psychological factors.

The environment plays a large part in how children develop. Optimally, children’s home environment is one in which they have a strong and positive attachment to a parent or adult, feel safe in their environment, and have caregivers who are responsive to their needs. However, this is not always the case and there are times when children’s environment is abusive, neglectful, and harmful.

As seen in the research below, an interesting finding is that boys have a higher percentage of emotional, behavioral, or developmental conditions than girls do.

Depending on the theoretical framework that you work from to understand childhood behavioral problems, researchers have viewed behavioral problems as learned or modeled, reinforced, or as disordered thinking (due to a developmental disorder such as Autism Spectrum Disorder or Learning Disabilities). However, common childhood behavioral disorders generally follow a developmental trajectory and most children “grow out” of these behaviors (tantrums, some types of social anxiety, aggression).

Common behavioral problems in children can also include elimination problems, disruptive behaviors, anxiety, moodiness, and sadness. Psychologists typically start with some type of psychosocial evaluation when a child’s behavior begins to interfere with their daily activities. For example, a tantrum in a 3-year-old is considered typical and diminishes when other ways of expression are learned. However, excessive, or prolonged tantrums that result in that child being dismissed from day care can signal problems. Another common behavioral disorder can be an elimination problem. These problems occur when a child who is old enough to use the bathroom defecates (encopresis) or urinates (enuresis) either at inappropriate times or places. For example, a child might defecate in his pants at school (elementary-age child and older) or might wet her bed at night (elementary-age or older). It is important to note that for both problems, the age of the child must be considered.

Be sure to review this week’s resources carefully. You are expected to apply the information from these resources when you prepare your assignments.

Reference

HRSA (2017). The Mental and Emotional Well-being of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation.

 

Learning Activity

How to Create a Blog Post

Blogs are web-based journals that typically present an individual’s thoughts and perspectives about a particular topic. Their purpose and content go well beyond an online diary. Many blogs are written to help people who may be experiencing similar situations that the blogger has endured, or in the case of the helping professions, who have assisted individuals in addressing similar issues. Blogs are also used to chronicle family or life events, post photographs, and share ideas, recipes, jokes, insights, reviews, and so much more.

Address the following as you prepare to create an effective blog:

• Organize your information.
• Be sure your content is current, relevant, and succinct.
• Update your content by posting daily updates or routinely posted new entries.
• Use a casual, informal tone to write your blogs. However, ensure the tone of your writing is respectful to other cultures and opinions since you are presenting your blog to a worldwide audience.
• Remember to use correct grammar and punctuation to ensure comprehension.

Since a well-written blog attracts readers, use the following information below to ensure your blog is well-written:

• Attract your blog readers by beginning with an attention-grabbing title.
• Present your main point in the first paragraph. Your introduction should define your problem to the reader and provide a bit of history to put it into perspective.
• Offer solutions and strategies that address the problem in the body of the blog.
• Use paragraphs with bullets, numbered lists, multiple headings, or a combination of these to format your content.
• Conclude your blog post typically by restating the problem and the strategies/solutions involved. Your conclusion may include a call to action for the reader to further engage in research.
• Consider inviting readers to offer comments on your blog. Allowing your audience to comment on your blog posts is the best way to develop a dialogue with your readers. However, you must monitor comments closely to ensure spam or inappropriate content is not added to your comments area.
• Utilize proper citations and references for any of the source material you use to prepare your blog to avoid plagiarism.

 

Assignment: Prepare an Article for a Blog Post

 

Background

During this lesson, you were asked to explore common childhood behavioral disorders. In this assignment, create a blog post that presents an introduction to one common childhood behavioral disorder that was reviewed this week. This blog entry should focus on the specific disorder and any information that parents would need to know about the behavior disorder. Imagine this blog post would be for the website of a parent blog such as Empowering Parents.

Instructions

In your blog entry, be sure to address the following:

• Define and classify the progression of the specific behavioral disorder; be sure to include the symptoms.
• Explain why parents should have a good understanding of the behavior disorder.
• Explain the sociobiological influences that could contribute to the behavioral disorder (for example, what might be the role that the family environment or school may have on the development or maintenance of this disorder?).
• Explain what the current research states about the specific behavioral disorder.
• Provide a developmental progression of the disorder and place in context (for example, it is typical for a child in day care or preschool to mess her pants, but it is not typical for the child to do this when she is in third grade).

Length of Blog Post: 10 paragraphs

Resources: Included a minimum of four scholarly resources in addition to the readings for this week.

 

Your blog should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your submission should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards where appropriate.