Behavioural Difficulties in Children
Behavioural Difficulties in Children
Growing up is not a smooth process! There is a lot of bumping up against boundaries and learning about the consequences of our behaviour through making mistakes. We learn what gets us what we want, what connects us to those we care about, what disconnects us, what makes us and others feel joy, sadness, anger and many more emotions. Children have to get it wrong sometimes to get it right, which is all part of the growing up process. We can generally expect that our children will have periods of difficulties where they may be more oppositional, emotional or uncooperative interspersed with stretches where they are generally settled.
What are behavioural difficulties?
Essentially this can be defined as a pattern of emotional and behavioural responding that causes disruption to a young person’s daily living, relationships and interactions as well as their ability to modulate both their internal and external state (emotional dysregulation). It generally involves having difficulties in following the rules or social norms of a context, whether that be the family, school or some other context. Sometimes these difficulties may just be a phase of their development and other times it is a more typical and pervasive pattern for them.
Behavioral Difficulties Might Look Like
- Tantrums or frequent meltdowns
- Reluctance to engage in tasks of daily living or family activities
- Defiance
- Becoming withdrawn and non-communicative, having “shutdowns”
- Aggression towards siblings, parents or peers
- School can’t (difficulties with attending school)
What Underlies Behavioural Difficulties?
When behavioural difficulties have become a problem, it can be a sign of underlying emotional dysregulation, anxiety or depression. We are also more likely to see behavioural difficulties in autistic and ADHDer children and adolescents as they try to navigate a mostly neurotypical world. Issues that commonly underly behavioural difficulties in children and adolescents include:
ADHD
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can look like many different behaviours. At its core, there is a significant difference in the way the young person’s brain processes information in their environment and this leads primarily to difficulties with impulsivity, attention, sometimes hyperactivity and executive functioning. The Australian Government Intitute of Health and Welfare reports that ADHD is relatively common, affecting just over 8% of children.
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder, commonly referred to as autism or ASD, is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects about one in 150 people. A diagnosis of autism requires both difficulties with reciprocal social communication and social interaction as well as a restricted and repetitive pattern of behaviour, interests or activities. Autistic young people may find it difficult to navigate the neurotypical environment and this can lead to frustration and overwhelm for them (sometimes resulting in meltdowns or shutdowns).
Learning Difficulties
- Learning disorders affect approx 5% of the population.
- Specific learning disorders are not intellectual impairments. Students with intellectual impairments are generally assessed as having reduced cognitive capacity, which has a global impact on learning and daily functioning (SPELD Foundation) Children with a specific learning disorder have fuctional deficits in one or more academic areas including reading (dyslexia), writing (dysgraphia) and maths (dyscalculia). When children struggle to keep up with peers, this can affect self confidence and satisfaction overall, which can have significant impacts on mood. Low mood in children is correlated with behavioural difficulties at home and/or at school.
Tic Disorders
Tics are involuntary vocal sounds or motor movements. They are reasonably common in childhood and often times they dissipate as a child develops, hoever others experience more significant tics which may lead to a diagnosis. Tic disorders (including Tourette’s Disorder) are commonly associated with ADHD and autism and young people with tic disorders may also experience difficulties with anxiety, emotional regulation and mood difficulties. Tics involve a feeling a tension (known as the ‘premontary urge’ for which the tic provides momentary relief. Children will sometimes try to suppress their tics, which is very hard to do and takes large amounts of energy which can be emotionally and physically exhausting. Some tics may involve gestures or words that others may interpret as misbehaviour. It is important that those in the young person’s environmentare well informed about their condition and supports available to them.
Emotional Dysregulation
Emotional regulation is the complex process that involves us recognising and managing our own emotions in response to the situation we are in. They may find it difficult to adapt their emotional responses to both their own needs and the demands of the environment. This can make it hard to function both at home and at school and can lead to issues like school avoidance (or ‘school can’t’), anxiety, depression, as well as behavioural challenges.
Sleep Problems
Adequate sleep is necessary for emotional regulation, memory & learning and problem solving effectively. Poor sleep may exacerbate underlying anxiety or mood difficulties. Sleep and behavioural difficulties can become a vicious cycle as some children and teens may have increased non compliance around the wind down to bedtime, going to sleep which may then affect their ability to remain asleep as well as function the following day. The more tired a young person (or adult!) is, the more difficult it can be to establish good routines around sleep.
Mood Issues
Depressive disorders include a raft of troubling symptoms that range from feelings of sadness, emptiness and irritability to somatic (body) and cognitive changes that will impact in a significant way on the individual’s ability to function.
They can impact a young person’s capacity to participate as they normally would in school as well as activities with friends and family. This can affect the quality of relationships in their life and have a significant effect on how the family is able to function. Depressive symptoms can be present for some time before this develops into a clinical disorder.
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders in children are relatively common, affecting approximately 1 in 14 children in Australia. That is around 2 children in every classroom. Anxiety typically involves the avoidance of a feared object, place or situation which may frequently look like non-compliance from the outside. Sometimes behaviours may escalate to be aggressive or alternatively the young person may shut down in order to avoid being confronted by their fear.
Behavioural difficulties can be stressful on families, but we can help. Book an appointment today to help understand how to support your child’s behavioural wellbeing.
How can I help my child with behavioural difficulties?
Stay calm. It sounds simple, but it can be extremely difficult. Don’t underestimate the toll that the behavioural difficulty may be taking on your own state of mind and consciously consider how you can buffer yourself to this stress. Working on your own internal resources might include initially getting some respite. If you have another family member that can step in to help out for a couple of days, this may allow you time to rest and recuperate before attempting the next step.
Take a step back – is the troublesome behaviour happening more at some times rather than others? How do you feel when your child behaves this way? Being able to make connections between the behaviour you see and aspects of your child’s environment or routine may help you to find solutions with your child.
Talk to your parenting partner if you have one to see if both of you are on the same page. If the adults in a child’s life are working towards different goals or have competing beliefs about behaviour, this can set back both parent’s agendas as well as increase confusion around expectations for the child.
Notice what your child is doing well, however small, and let them know they are doing a good job. Sometimes we can find ourselves getting emotionally charged around the negative things and this might take over much of our communication with our child. Increasing positive interactions will strengthen the relationship and contribute to everyone’s good mental health.
Why Choose The Young Mind Clinic?
Expertise
The Young Mind Clinic psychologists use and are highly trained in the use of internationally recognised gold-standard assessment tools.
Our experience with these tools can provide accurate and reliable evaluations, ensuring that each assessment is both comprehensive and tailored to the unique needs of every individual.
Experience Working With Young People
Our psychologists are skilled in addressing the unique needs of young people, offering assessments that utilise well-thought-out methods to synthesise relevant information gathered during the assessment into concise and personalised reports.
With this, we can provide well-thought-out recommendations for families, young people and their schools where appropriate.
AHPRA Registered Psychologists
Our clinicians are all psychologists registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
The Young Mind Clinic
Seeking Professional Support
Entrenched behavioural patterns can be difficult to shift and it can also be very difficult to gain a clear perspective “from the inside”. Having a professional to help understand what is going on and provide supportive strategies for either the parent, child or both can be really helpful. Additionally young people may be suffering from underlying mental health problems that may turn into adult mental health problems without treatment. They may have neuro-developmental differences and may benefit from psychological support to find more adaptive ways of getting their needs met. It is not always about “changing” the young person (especially in the case of autism and ADHD) but rather considering how their environment may function best around them in addition to identifying strategies that will work for that individual to be more in harmony with their world. The team at The Young Mind Clinic have extensive experience helping young people and their families find a path through behavioural difficulties. We work with parents and/or young people themselves to provide support and find solutions.