COMMON BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN
Psychosocial disorders
These may manifest as disturbance in:
- Emotions - eg, anxiety or depression.
- Behaviour - eg, aggression.
- Physical function - eg, psychogenic disorders.
- Mental performance - eg, problems at school.
Habit disorders
These include a range of phenomena that may be described as tension-reducing.
| Tension-reducing habit disorders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Thumb sucking | Repetitive vocalisations | Tics |
| Nail biting | Hair pulling | Breath holding |
| Air swallowing | Head banging | Manipulating parts of the body |
| Body rocking | Hitting or biting themselves | |
- Thumb sucking - this is quite normal in early infancy. If it continues, it may interfere with the alignment of developing teeth. It is a comfort behaviour and parents should try to ignore it while providing encouragement and reassurance about other aspects of the child's activities.
- Tics - these are repetitive movements of muscle groups that reduce tension arising from physical and emotional states, involving the head, the neck and hands most frequently. It is difficult for the child with a tic to inhibit it for more than a short period. Parental pressure may exacerbate it, while ignoring the tic can reduce it. Tics can be differentiated from dystonias and dyskinetic movements by their absence during sleep.
- Stuttering - this is not a tension-reducing habit. It arises in 5% of children as they learn to speak. About 20% of these retain the stuttering into adulthood. It is more prevalent in boys than in girls. Initially, it is better to ignore the problem since most cases will resolve spontaneously. If the dysfluent speech persists and is causing concern refer to a speech therapist.
Sleeping problems
- Sleep disorders can be defined as more or less sleep than is appropriate for the age of the child. By the age of 1-3 months, the longest daily sleep should be between midnight and morning.
- Sleeping through the night is a developmental milestone but, at the age of 1 year, 30% of children may still be waking in the night. Stable sleep patterns may not be present until the age of 5 but parental or environmental factors can encourage the development of circadian rhythm.
Anxiety disorders
- Anxiety and fearfulness are part of normal development; however, when they persist and become generalised they can develop into socially disabling conditions and require intervention.
SOURCES:
http://patient.info/doctor/common-behavioural-problems-in-children
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=behavioral+problems+in+children&biw=1126&bih=706&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK0Lz0rpPOAhVDJ5QKHYQADzQQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=pmZmlCpneUaS0M%3A
