From an early age, children first learn within the family environment how to shape their behavior, emotions, and ability to form relationships in a way that aligns with social norms and expectations. Raising children is difficult, and raising a challenging child can turn your life upside down. However, it is not always easy to tell whether your child is just going through a phase or if something is truly wrong. This is why parents bear a great deal of responsibility. A condition known as conduct disorder can lead to the development of antisocial personality disorder later in life.
A conduct disorder is a pattern of disruptive behaviors in children that lasts for at least six months, negatively affects their social environments, and causes problems at school and at home. Almost everyone exhibits many of these behaviors from time to time, but a conduct disorder is a psychological condition.
What Is a Behavioral Disorder?
Behavioral disorders in children are patterns of behavior that can affect a child’s ability to function in relationships at home, at school, or in social settings. Behavioral disorders in children can create certain challenges and difficulties that affect the child’s daily life. These issues can lead to social and environmental problems, academic difficulties, and disciplinary issues in various settings.
All children may act out, be restless, or act impulsively from time to time. This is perfectly normal. However, some children exhibit extremely challenging and aggressive behaviors that fall outside the norms for their age. The most common behavioral disorders are oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
What Are the Signs of a Behavioral Disorder?
The following behaviors are commonly observed in children with conduct disorder:
- İnsan veya hayvanlara karşı zarar verici davranışlar sergileme
- Agresif ve öfke dolu tavırlar sergileme
- Çoğunlukla ilişki kurmada zorluk ve şiddete yönelim
- Yaralanmalara sebebiyet verebilecek nesnelerle etrafındakilere zarar verme eğilimleri
- Ya da nesnelere veya eşyalara zarar verecek davranışlarda bulunma
- Başkalarının eşyalarına kasten zarar verme veya yok etme davranışları
- Sık sık yalan söyleme
- Arkadaşlarıyla asla uyumlu bir şekilde anlaşamama
- Arkadaşlarına veya ebeveynlerine zarar verecek saldırganlık hareketlerde bulunma
- Madde kullanımı
- Olumsuz hiçbir davranışın ardından pişmanlık duymama
What Is Oppositional Defiant Disorder?
Oppositional Defiant Disorder may be diagnosed when children, at home or at school, persistently act in ways that cause serious problems for their parents or friends; behave in an abnormally defiant manner; are argumentative and uncooperative; or oppose the family on every issue. Oppositional Defiant Disorder typically begins before the age of 8. Children with this disorder generally exhibit these types of behaviors more frequently in the presence of family members, caregivers, or acquaintances. They also display these behaviors more often than other children their age.
What Are the Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder?
Children with oppositional defiant disorder generally exhibit the following behaviors:
- Sıklıkla öfkeli davranışlar sergilemek
- Yetişkinlerle çok fazla tartışmak veya yetişkinlerin kurallarına veya isteklerine karşı çıkarak uymayı reddetmek
- Küskün veya kinci tavırlar
- Başkalarını bilerek ve isteyerek kızdırmaya çalışmak
- Hata yaptıklarında ısrarla bunu kabullenmeme ve başkalarını suçlama eğilimi
- Kasten başkalarını rahatsız etmek
- Sıklıkla agresif tavırlar sergilemek
What Is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that causes certain problems in the brain as a result of the interaction between genetic traits and environmental and biological factors. It is largely caused by genetic factors.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is observed in approximately 2 to 5 percent of children. The prevalence of this condition is higher among boys than among girls. In children, attention deficits become particularly noticeable once they start school. Even during the preschool years, these children—who get bored and lose interest in everything very quickly—tend to grow tired of even their toys, often taking them apart or breaking them. At school, they get bored very quickly during lessons and have difficulty paying attention.
They don’t like doing their homework and have a very hard time studying while sitting still. Their attention constantly drifts to other things, and they lose focus very quickly. They can’t stay still; they can’t sit at a desk or in their seats in class for long periods of time. These children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have good intelligence levels and may not experience learning difficulties, even if they don’t pay attention in class. Even though they don’t study and don’t follow the lesson closely, their grades may not be bad.
What Are the Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder becomes more apparent during a child’s educational years. And it is during this period that these children begin to exhibit most of their symptoms. These symptoms can be listed as follows:
- Normalin dışında akranlarından farklı bir hareketlilikleri vardır.
- Yerlerinde duramaz, bir işe odaklanmakta güçlük çekerler.
- Dışarıdan gelen herhangi bir uyarıda dikkatleri hemen dağılır.
- Bitmek tükenmek bilmeyen bir enerjileri vardır.
- Sürekli yükseklere tırmanır, koltuk tepelerinde gezerler.
- Zıplayarak yürüme, koşma ve normal olmayan şekilde duramazlar.
- Sabırsızdırlar ve sürekli soru sorarlar.
- Hareketlilikleri aşırıdır ve yaşıtlarıyla kıyaslandıklarında fark anlaşılabilir düzeydedir.
- Kısa bir süre bile sakin ve hareketsiz bir şekilde duramazlar.
- Oturmaları gereken durumlarda da el ve ayakları durmadan kıpır kıpır eder.
- Durmadan konuşurlar ve başkaları sohbet ederken sık sık araya girerek konuşmalarını bölerler.
- Konsantre olmada güçlük çekerler
- Talimatları unuturlar ve dinlemezler.
- Bir görevi tamamlamadan diğerine geçemezler.
- Sürekli huzursuzluk yaşarlar.
- Enerjilerini atamadıkları için evde hep zıplayarak gezerler.
Diagnosis of Behavioral Disorders in Children
Behavioral disorders in children are generally complex. Unlike other mental health issues, they make a noticeable difference because children with these disorders exhibit more distinct behaviors. When compared to their peers, they exhibit distinct behavioral patterns. The methods for diagnosing behavioral disorders are as follows:
- Ebeveynler bu farklı durumları hissettikleri anda bir uzmana başvurmalıdır.
- Anne ve babalar, çocuk ve öğretmenlerle derinlemesine görüşmelidir.
- Çocuğun davranışı, Amerikan Psikiyatri Birliği’nin Zihinsel Bozuklukların teşhis ve istatistik el kitabında yer alan yıkıcı davranış bozuklukları kriterlerini karşılıyorsa bir teşhis konulabilir.
It is important to eliminate stress factors that could disrupt children’s behavior. Sudden changes in a child’s typical behavior should be taken seriously, and a specialist should definitely be consulted. Sometimes, specialists can make a diagnosis immediately based on the child’s behavior and activity levels during therapy.
Treatment of Behavioral Disorders in Children
The earlier behavioral disorders in children are detected and addressed, the better the outcome. Children with behavioral disorders who do not receive treatment may grow up to be dysfunctional adults. And as they get older, their lives begin to become even more difficult.
Treatment is typically multifaceted and depends on the specific disorder and the factors contributing to it. To treat your child’s behavioral disorder, your healthcare provider may recommend psychosocial treatment (therapy with a trained therapist). If necessary, your child’s healthcare provider may also recommend medication in addition to psychosocial treatment.
Every child or teenager may respond differently to various treatments. For this reason, you may need to try a few different treatment methods to find the right one for your child.
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