Challenging behaviour in childhood

Any persistent behaviour that negatively affects a child’s learning or social interactions with peers and adults, whether at home or school, is described as challenging behaviour.

Children communicate their emotions in many different ways. As they are exposed to different social settings, and meet new friends, they are also exposed to new behaviours/habits which they can easily pick up.

Some of these habits may be acceptable or unacceptable. Persistent unacceptable habits such as tantrums, defiance (unwilling to follow instructions), strong will, fiery anger, aggression manifesting as kicking, biting or injuring others, withdrawal and fussiness about food and clothes. etc. are all different kinds of behaviour that can be challenging to deal with as a parent, caregiver or even a teacher.

Oftentimes, we struggle with how exactly to handle such children. Many adults, however, cannot be patient enough or think beyond applying harsh punitive measures.

While such a rash approach can be damaging and ineffective in some cases, it is important to understand that some children put up these behaviours as a way of expressing unmet needs.

The child may either want to do something he/she is not permitted to do or maybe in a situation where they do not want to do something required of them. They tend to lack the social and emotional skills to deal with such situations.

As a parent, teacher or caregiver, it is important to build your capacity to be patient enough to find out the reasons for these behaviours and determine how to teach, instruct and guide them so they can express themselves in more approved ways. That is what discipline is really about, not merely administering corporal punishment.

It is important to understand the root cause of the behaviour to apply sustainable remedies.

Causes

The ABC formula – antecedent, behaviour and consequence – is one such process that can be used to identify the root causes of unacceptable behaviour, think through measures that can be used to prevent and also nip the behaviour in the bud.

The antecedent is the situation, conversation or word that provokes the challenging behaviour.

The behaviour is the child’s response to the antecedent and the consequences of the behaviour include the actions of adults around the child when the behaviour shows up.

It is important to address challenging behaviour appropriately because the possible underlying causes such as problems at home, stressful environments, unpleasant family dynamics, underlying health issues and social, emotional or even developmental problems may go unresolved. Inadvertently, new problems that rather compound the issue can be created when adult responses do not meet the need behind the behaviour.

To address challenging behaviours, rules and boundaries must be set to ensure the child is clear about what behaviour will be tolerated. This is done whilst trying to identify the root cause. Such children should be deliberately occupied with activities that build empathy.

Attention-seeking behaviour can be ignored, or in younger children, behaviour can be re-directed to a more positive behaviour.

Team effort

Dealing with challenging behaviours most often requires a team effort of parents, teachers and other professionals. There should be mutual respect for everyone on this team, with the child’s best interest taking centre stage in decisions.

Challenging behaviour that goes untreated in children can have a negative impact on academic life, as well as social consequences such as rejection and isolation. The mental health effects include anxiety, depression and other psychiatric disorders as they grow older.

The writer is a Child Development Expert/ Fellow at Zero-to-three Academy, USA.

E-mail: nanaesi_19@yahoo.co.uk