Conduct disorder and antisocial behavior in children – part 2

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This is the second and final piece of my article about conduct disorder and antisocial behavior in children. If you haven’t read the first one, you should take a look clicking here. So, let’s get to it.

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN

The antisocial behavior of children and adolescents has been attributed to constitutional and environmental factors. Historically, it was with the establishment of clinics linked to the juvenile court that mental health professionals were able to observe the development of antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence.

When seen from the high frequency of family and social problems in the life history of juvenile delinquents, formulated the hypothesis of a reaction to adversity found both in the family environment as a community.

When children suffer emotional deprivation, manifested antisocial behavior at home or in a larger sphere. From a psychodynamic point of view, these behaviors show hope to get something good that was lost, and the absence of hope the basic characteristic of children who suffered deprivation.

The young person experiences an urge to seek the object of someone who can take charge of caring for him, hoping to rely on a stable environment, able to withstand the tension resulting from impulsive behavior.

The environment is repeatedly tested on their ability to withstand the assault, to tolerate the discomfort, prevent the destruction, preserving the object that is sought and found.

Factors associated with antisocial behavior in childhood: being male, receiving inadequate maternal and paternal care, live in the midst of marital discord, being created by aggressive and violent parents, having a mother with mental health problems, living in urban areas and have low socioeconomic status.

Some authors suggest that low income associated with the antisocial behavior of children is related to antisocial maternal personality and the negligence of the parents.

In fact, one can assume that antisocial mothers would have greater difficulty achieve higher levels of income, because it would keep jobs and would be less capable of maintaining a stable relationship with a husband or partner to contribute to family income.

Antisocial parents are also often irresponsible and negligent with their children, failing to adequately feed them or take them to the doctor when sick. In addition, adolescents living in poverty and under-valued by parents may seek recognition through personal and economic rise of delinquencies group activities.

As for marital discord and maternal mental health problems, was demonstrated that the conflict between the parents and maternal depression were associated with aggressive behavior and antisocial in school.

However, one must consider the child’s contribution to the quality of the relationship between parents and children, for children to deal with difficult, aggressive and disobedient favor the disruption of family environment and the imbalance of a marital relationship more fragile.

As for the aggressive and violent family environment, one can not fail to mention the influence of domestic violence and physical abuse on antisocial behavior in childhood.

High rate of antisocial behavior (21%) was observed in children (school age) of spanked women. In Khartoum, Sudan, children subjected to severe corporal punishment (rope or rod) had more behavior problems (40.2% ) against children punished with spanking (24.6%). Studies evaluating the effects of long-term physical abuse have shown that individuals who have suffered abuse or neglect in childhood were more likely to commit crimes. However, the vast majority of abused children (74%) or negligence (90%) did not become delinquent or committed violent crimes.

Neurophysiological and genetic factors may also be involved in the development of anti-social. A higher rate of criminality was reported in the biological parents than in adoptive parents of individuals with criminal records, making the hypothesis of a biological predisposition to antisocial behavior.

The genetic influence is most evident in cases accompanied by hyperactivity and may be responsible for the individual more vulnerable to life events and stress. However, the role of genetic factors in conduct disorder should be further clarified.

Finally, there is evidence of differences in risk factors for antisocial behavior in children according to gender.

In a population survey conducted in Canada, involving 1,651 individuals aged 16 to 24 years, it was found that besides the presence of antisocial behaviors before age 15, other factors were considered at risk for antisocial behavior in adolescence and early adulthood.

For men, risk factor was the fact that he lived as a child of parents with mental health problems (depression, mania, psychotic episodes), while for women, stood out sexual abuse in childhood and the fact that it was created by parents with antisocial behavior or abuse of drugs and alcohol.

HOW TO DEAL WITH THESE PROBLEMS

The treatment reported in the literature are quite varied, including interventions with the family and the school (eg, family and individual psychotherapy, parent guidance, therapeutic communities and training of parents and teachers in behavioral techniques).

Although neither is very effective, especially as isolated intervention, the earlier start and the younger the patient, the better the obtained results emphasize the importance of concurrent and complementary interventions in the long term.

At the age of three to eight years, some symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (eg, annoyed easily, refuses to comply with rules or fulfill requests from adults, deliberately disturbs people) or conduct disorder (for example, hurt animals, steals) are usually identified and merit preventive actions with the child and their parents and teachers.

Often the focus of the problem is the conflict between parents and children. Other times, parents are too involved with personal problems and need support.

Some parents need help to set limits and choose the most appropriate methods to educate their children. Contact with the school may also be useful for resolving conflicts between teachers and students and help teachers find better ways to deal with the difficulties of the child.

The younger the patient and the less severe the symptoms, the more likely the individual will benefit from psychotherapy.

When there are adolescents who have committed crimes, there is greater resistance to psychotherapy can be useful to professionals involved with the management of antisocial youth through art workshops, music and sports.

In these workshops, the adolescent has the opportunity to establish bonding with the professionals responsible for the activities, taking them as a model, and find themselves able to create, which favors the development of self-esteem.

Whenever possible, the family of patients should be included in the therapeutic process, noting that parents often need psychiatric treatment (eg drug abuse).

Treatment with psychotropic drugs is necessary in some situations in which the target symptoms (eg paranoid ideas associated with aggression, convulsions) or other psychiatric disorders (eg, ADHD, depression) are present.

We recommend caution in the use of neuroleptics for the treatment of aggression, because the risks may outweigh the benefits.

Hospitalization is indicated in cases of imminent risk to the patient (eg, suicide, self harm) or others (eg, murder). Whenever possible, opt for less restrictive interventions (eg, hospital days).

In our environment, often do not have the resources needed to treat the child or adolescent antisocial behavior. When these features exist, not all families are able to attend the service at the recommended frequency.

The mental health professional can be helpful to establish priorities among the different possible therapeutic approaches to the patient and recommending that it deems most critical.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS?

Antisocial behaviors are often observed during adolescence as isolated symptoms and transient. However, these may arise in early childhood and persists throughout life, being difficult to treat psychiatric conditions.

Individual, social and family are implicated in the development and persistence of antisocial behavior, interacting in complex and poorly understood.

As the anti-social behavior becomes more stable and less changeable over time, 30 children and adolescents with conduct disorder need to be identified as soon as possible to have greater opportunity to benefit from therapeutic interventions and preventive actions.

The most effective treatment involves combining different behaviors with the child / adolescent, family and school. When you can not access to complementary interventions, the mental health professional must identify the therapeutic priority in each specific case.

I found a nice video on the subject, with an “experiment” made by Neighbourhood Policing team for Barton, Risinghurst and Sandhills:

Can children have coffee?

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This week I was reading the newspaper while having coffee (I am a coffee addict) and thought to myself when it will be my kid doing that. Then the question that instantly came to me was, when can children have coffee and how harmful can it be? To answer that question I made a research, and the result, well, is what you can read below, I hope you like it :)

Cup of coffee, not harmful for children

Yes, children can have coffee, but with moderation.

As everyone knows, coffee is not a medicine. However, research shows that the plant is functional and helps in preventing various diseases.

Considered a villain to health until recently, coffee has been rehabilitated by a series of polls showing that the drink can do well in different circumstances.

Recent studies point to a number of positive findings on coffee for type II diabetes, asthma, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease, alcoholic cirrhosis, heart disease, some cancers, depression, memory and even fertility.

This is because the coffee bean has not only caffeine, but also beneficial substances such as antioxidants, and a variety of minerals, including potassium, magnesium, zinc, sodium, iron, vitamins and some, although in small quantities.

And for children, is coffee good and can they have it?

Children can have coffee! This is the opinion of nutritionists and here I quote one: “It’s okay to consume coffee in childhood. What matters is to be careful with the quantity. Children who consume coffee and milk benefit from the consumption of calcium, important for its growth, in addition to the minerals contained in coffee, which helps to raise attention and help in school learning”.

However, the issue generates controversy and divides the opinions of health professionals. In another article I read, a clinical nutritionist specializing in pediatric nutrition, says that even with many health benefits, the caffeine in coffee can harm the health of a child.

She says: “Excess caffeine decreases the retention of calcium in the body of persons with a low calcium diet, and decreases the uptake of iron. Therefore, the child should be discouraged from consuming foods containing caffeine to avoid hindering its growth.”

According to the same nutritionist, coffee also helps to reduce fatigue and has diuretic action. ”For children this is not a positive effect. They are already stimulated by nature. Moreover, this diuretic may impair the absorption of vitamins and minerals”.

This expert also points out that researches relate the excessive consumption of coffee with increased cholesterol and blood pressure, because of too much caffeine, which promotes hypertension and tachycardia.

For many, the key is to control the amount! ”Only the excess causes harm, such as agitation, insomnia, irritability, stomach upset, increased blood pressure and difficulty sleeping”.

Caffeine is not only in coffee!

Today, most children do not drink the coffee itself, but drinks containing caffeine such as tea, chocolate and cola drinks such as soft drinks. Moreover, the substance is also present in some drugs.

“If you need to cut something to feed the little ones, it is best to stop the soft drinks, not coffee, that will bring health benefits,”.

Children age and coffee

An indication of the experts who advocate the consumption of coffee since childhood, is that this should happen at school age, after 6 years old, but in this phase of life should be used preferably coffee with milk.

How many cups can children take?

Cup of coffee for kids after 6 years old

Ideal age for children to start having coffee is at 6 years, mixed with milk.

Among the many varieties of coffee, the most desirable for both children and adults alike, is the brewed coffee. ”Compared with the espresso, brewed retains the substances that could adversely affect cholesterol” says the same nutritionist.

For an adult as recommended by physicians is no more than four cups (50 ml) per day. This quantity is ideal to have beneficial effects. ”For children, I recommend two cups a day, with milk, and consumed preferably in the morning and evening, avoiding the dark period and thus, changes in sleep,” (well, that doesn’t look too bad).

This woman reports that children have the need to sleep more than an adult or elderly, due to the circadian cycle that we have in each time of our lives. According to her, the coffee can be very harmful because of caffeine, a stimulus to the central nervous system.

And is coffee addictive?

There are differences on this issue. However, coffee is responsible for the appearance of withdrawal symptoms / abstinence for many people, such as headaches, dysphoria, feeling of tiredness, weakness, drowsiness, impaired concentration, difficulty working, depression, anxiety, irritability, muscle tension increased , muscle aches, and more rarely, tremors, nausea and vomiting.

Therefore, it is likely that coffee becomes an addiction, but only if consumed in large quantities.

It is noteworthy that the vice of coffee can not be compared with chemical addictions, because the gradual decrease in consumption, according to experts, prevents these effects and makes the symptoms disappear.

After this, I concluded that yes, in reasonable quantities, children can have coffee and I’m planning to start my little one at around 6 years of age, mixed with milk and in extremely small quantities. Thanks for reading again, see you soon!

Anxiety of first day at School

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This first day has the meaning for all children, the transition to another phase of its development which already has a huge awareness “… I go to school to learn to read and write… I’m not a baby anymore …”

So, they want to learn to read, uh… What about me?

We hear them say, filled themselves for failing to belong to the group of children. This day is a kind of ritual with some anxiety experienced by parents and children. It is not unusual that cries at the door of the classroom and mothers who are out there for your little ones to see, the only way to stay in school.

Of course it is difficult for children 5 / 6 years to leave the nest protector of the home, the grandparents or the garden-schools and kindergartens, safe and familiar surroundings that they know from birth.The separation and autonomy are closely related, no one is separated physically from the parents do not have internal autonomy and feel safe that will not be abandoned.

The great dilemma of children will be the stress of uncertainty can be neglected (although this will not happen) and get a strange environment with unfamiliar people. The more unsafe for the child will have more difficulty in adapting to school and as a result of separating from their parents.

The anxiety generated by the first day of school is normal and even a small tear on both sides, parents and children move to a new stage of their lives.

However the difficulty of separation is maintained for more than a week, and the child’s anxiety is too much, it’s because something is not right at the emotional level. Sometimes children are anxious because their parents are and they also convey that feeling.

Parents should be alert to children in these early days and seek to observe their reactions, they realize if they sleep well, eat and play is, in short to observe the anxiety levels of their children are normal. After one to two weeks it must be normalized.

Not all children process information at the same time, so some may take longer to assimilate a new situation. In situations of extreme anxiety, it is appropriate to seek expert help.

Children behavior by age

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This text was organized in order to give teacher(s) and parents, some information about the development of children between 0-6 years of age with steps of children behavior by age listed in order to identify situations in the spot.

Ages & Stages – Children behavior by age: the Child aged from 0 to 6 years

Children Behavior by ageI believe that a theoretical basis that provides them the mechanisms involved in the development of children of 0-6 years in their cognitive, affective and social can offer them subsidies so they can relate to how these principles work in helping our children to become more aware, autonomous, critical, creative and happy.

The child at birth does not provide ready-hereditary forms of knowledge that have evolved over the years with maturation. Nor can we consider the child a “blob” that goes out gradually shaped by the influence and reinforcements around the world.

The child builds their knowledge by interacting with the world she lives in and her thinking grows from actions and not words. Knowledge can not be given to children. He has to be discovered and reconstructed through their activities. Children learn best by starting with concrete experiences.

By nature, children are continuously active. They have to discover and make sense of their world. When they are doing this, they retrace the mental structures that allow information to deal with increasingly complex.

This remake of mental structures makes possible the genuine learning – learning that is stable and durable. When these structures, which are necessary, are not present, the learning is superficial.

To achieve this goal we need to establish a curriculum that meets the characteristics of child development and to propose a teaching / parenting methodology consistent with that development assessing the children behavior by age.

Ages & Stages - The Child aged 0 to 2 years

At birth, the child’s conduct is determined by heredity. It develops the innate reflexes, for example, the sucking by means of functional exercises which are drills of their actions. When interacting with objects and people, the child assimilates their own reactions to the stimuli she receives.

From these repetitions and, consequently, assimilation, the child will gradually build a logic of action. Through the action, the child refers to events, remember them and can produce them.

The universe was initially centered on the child’s body and their actions, will be centered so that it ends by presenting himself as someone in a larger universe, a universe of permanent objects.

Ages & Stages - The Child 2 to 7 years

Ages & stages - Children behavior

The child in this period, conceptually rebuilds everything, from his birth, as an action.

The sensory-motor schemas are no longer the only tools for learning and development. The child has the ability to verbal representation and thought.

The child is now able to interact with the object, even absent, creating significant that they represent as drawings, gestures, words or other objects.

The ability to represent of the child manifests itself in different ways: imitation, the game of make-believe, drawing, mental imagery and language.

Written language also appears in this period and is part of the system of representation, begins to be object of interest of the child.

At this stage the child’s knowledge expands a lot, their language skills, using simple verbs, adjectives and adverbs of time and place. While younger children speak with themselves even if they are together with other children, older children are already able to establish verbal exchanges with peers and adults.

Knowing how children develop and learn, will surely assist us in choosing the best strategies for a more affectionate and committed education to build a happier human being.

Children Behavior by Age – Characteristics and Orientation

Let us now consider the description of the characteristics of growth and development of children, as well as some brief guidelines according to each age.

Remember that this table represents a summary of several studies in the area of ​​child development and for that reason can not be considered complete and final.

Ages & Stages – The Child Development: from 12 to 18 months

Characteristics of the growth and development Orientation to teacher / parents
● Accelerated Growth generally less, bigger and better muscular coordination.● Shows interest in every kind of activity.● Use of imitation.● Understand the meaning of words.

● Increased capacity for social contact.

● Able to distinguish repetitive sounds and rhythmic.

● It has rudimentary notion of space.

● Does not yet have the understanding of causes and consequences.

● It is egocentric.

 ● Grabbing, groping, she is finding the size, shape and mobility of everything in your world.● Repeat routines, schedules, same place for games and activities.● Leave her with other children.● Provide opportunities to hear music.

● Tide her toys and clothes with her.

● Do not scold the child if she did not understand what she did.

● Understand that the child considers her toys as part of her and defends them as such.

Ages & Stages – The Development of Children: 2 to 3 years

Characteristics of the growth and development Orientation to teacher / parents
● Improved coordination, both for flexion and extension. Control of the thumb.● Greater progress in language.● Interdependence of mental and motor activities.● Learn, also, mainly by imitation.

● Further development of intelligence and powers of deduction.

● Memory more developed.

● Ability to express greater emotions.

● Able to dramatize (3 years).

● Note the details.

● Attention further developed.

 ● The child needs room to run and jump. Leave at your fingertips blunt scissors.● Talk with your child often. Do not imitate the child talk.● Provide spaces to make-believe.● Have patience, because it is a normal condition of growth. Avoid the opportunities for alternatives: put matters in clearly defined terms and simply talk to her.● Provide opportunities to dramatize.

● Request to describe pictures.

Ages & Stages – The Child Development: 4 to 5 years

Characteristics of the growth and development Orientation to teacher / parents
● Improved coordination of large muscles. Small muscles of the hand more developed.● Ability to focus attention for 15-20 minutes, when four years of age.● Very fertile imagination.● Has a sense of initiative; realize that you can plan to have and implement ideas.

● Affectionate – Curious.

● Able to focus for longer periods, 20-40 minutes from 5 years.

● Safer for herself, is capable of self-criticism.

● The interest in the world outside home.

 ● Provide toys that can exercise their senses and muscles.● Storytelling, sometimes real sometimes fictitious, for her to learn the difference.● Always answer the questions.● Helping to provide the necessary boundaries.

● Provide opportunities to share experiences with family.

Ages & Stages – The Child Development: 6 to 7 years

Characteristics of the growth and development Orientation to teacher / parents
● Increased neuromuscular maturation.● Vocabulary up to 2,500 words.● Ask questions about everything that surrounds her.● Has initiative.

● Better distinguishes reality from fantasy.

● Sexual curiosity sharper.

● Transition period between individualism and participation in larger groups.

● Shows some degree of abstract thinking.

● Increases the power of concentration and attention.

● Knows and use descriptive words and action.

● Increased ability to understand, discuss and deal with emotional situations.

 ● Allow time to complete tasks.● Provide opportunities to use initiative, allowing it to act for herself.● Encourage the child to take ownership groups, but not with force.● Tell stories.

● Avoid taking attention, try to put the child at ease. Avoid discussions.

Ages & Stages – The Development of Children: 8 to 9 years

Characteristics of the growth and development Orientation to teacher / parents
● Increase the coordination of small muscles, has more manual dexterity.● Demonstrates a greater ability to distinguish fact from fiction.● Developing logical thinking.● Enhanced ability in expressing their views, to define their problems.

● Increased ability to accept criticism and to evaluate herself.

● Interested in belonging to a group.

● Displays independence from the family.

 ● Offer more elaborate crafts and toys / games.● Provide selected readings according to the preferences and capabilities.● Should take care of personal and group objects.● Advise on generalizations, after ample evidence had been presented.

● Establish climate that permits the child to agree to disagree.

● Advise in assessing the value of others, also of the child herself.

● Encourage the learning of social practices.

Ages & Stages – The Child Development: 10, 11 and 12 years

Characteristics of the growth and development Orientation to teacher / parents
● Good control of large and small muscles, shows increase in hand force.● Visual and motor coordination almost identical to the adult.● Enjoys measuring physical strength and skill with others.● It has a greater ability to generalize and critical thinking.

● Interest in exploring and experimenting.

● Able to plan ahead.

● Ready to take on greater responsibilities.

● Able to define and understand abstract words.

● Ability to generalizations faster, easier to follow logical arguments.

● Increased sociability.

● New world view, showing progressive maturity.

 ● Enable varied recreation.● Advise on competition.● Seek to develop scientific attitude: cause X opinion.● Provide opportunities to organize activities / events.

● Guide to set their own goals and evaluate their growth and success.

● Talk to discuss your opinions, exchanging ideas and suggestions.

● Encourage dialogue with peers and others.

● Guide and support her in her initiatives, leaving it to assume its responsibilities.

For more on stages of development and children behavior by age, check this, this and this link.

How to deal with a difficult child

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I received many e-mails from concerned parents with questions on how to deal with a difficult child at home, so I took some time to write this article on the topic. Hopefully it helps parents to deal with this small problem.

Badly educated children scare people away

How to deal with a difficult child

It is extremely unpleasant for parents or witnesses to whom a child is behaving inappropriately.

Aggressiveness, explosion of anger and even dangerous attitudes to their physical reactions are delicate, but can be changed.

Screaming and threatening are the best alternatives to end this attitude. According to the literature you can use a period of “penalty” or punishment, which will put that child in a situation that is not appreciated by them, for a time, until they begin to change their ways.

Find a safe and not threatening place to seat him always when he acts inappropriately. It may be the cradle, a corner of the house or a chair. He will stay there until he has stopped to behave inappropriately.

Children tend to maintain a behavior when it is given attention and stop it when it is ignored.

As far as possible do not to pay attention to him when doing nasty things, such as screaming, kicking, playing on the floor or compulsively crying for no reason. And congratulate, with gestures of affection and appreciation when he is doing right.

Persistence, patience and consistency

When parents are not consistent in their actions, they cause confusion into theirs child’s head, that makes it even harder to deal with a difficult one. You shouldn’t punish and reward the same behavior.

For example: At one point the baby is out with the parents and wants to buy a toy. Sometimes in a good mood or just not to be bothered, the child’s request is met. In another hour, before the same situation, parents are energetic and refuse. The kid does not understand. Why at a time I can and the other can not?

The consistency of the actions of parents is important. The child has to be aware of what is right or wrong.

Whenever he has a bad behavior, place it in the period of “penalty” and explain why he is being placed there. If he is kicking and screaming, leave at the penalty spot, it is clear that while behaving like that he will not leave.

To call his attention is always easy, explain that his attitude is unacceptable and must change. Is it better for everyone.

Find more on this topic here.

The place to think

Even if you are away from home, tell her that if she misbehaves, when you get home, she goes to the place she knows. It may be known as the place to think. Where she will be alone, looking at how she behaved and is not a good choice, because whenever doing so she will be punished.

On the other hand, encourage and praise when they behave properly.

At what age did she begin to understand?

Keep in mind that there are some behaviors that are inherent in the age of the child and she still has the ability to understand that they are acting wrongly.

The ideal age for her to assimilate what is right or wrong is from two years old.

But always reinforce good behavior and discourage inappropriate attitudes.

Lack of parental attention

Often, behind an attitude is an inconvenient child wanting to draw the attention of their parents, because they feel alone and worthless.

Examine your relationship with her. See if you’re paying enough attention. If you give care, love and listen when she talks to you.

Often in public places, I witness a child calling for parents who do not attend. “Mother, Mother, Mother.” By pulling the clothes, to show what is there, physically trying to attract the attention of the mother and the mother is either talking to someone or looking for something.

She does not understand why is she is not answered. She feels devalued. It is a developing human being, trying to make the world of parents, who she admires.

Children were instructed to behave as their models

Children, in most cases are the extension of the parents. They behave as they were told. It’s not that parents are deliberately educated to be poorly educated. Usually they think they are doing their best. They are doing what they can.

If needed, seek help from a professional. It can help you better handle the situation.

Living in society

Living in society requires respect for codes of conduct. Breaking them involves facing sanctions. She better learn this intricate relationship at home and as an adult will be natural for her.

Respect for other people and public places facilitates community life. She is a part of this gear and has to fit.

When you scold your children, you are doing your part as parents and educators. Hitting does not educate.

So, how to deal with a difficult child? Dialogue is the best way.

When it comes to the individual, they have their particular characteristics. Being too lenient can be seen as disinterest. Who loves, gives education, care and concern. Participate in the development.

Children are very perceptive and know the difference between when your parents are being forceful with the best of intentions.

I hope this article helps everyone that has been mailing me. If you have any other doubts, please leave a comment below! If you want to learn more about this topic, try something here and here.

Conduct disorder and antisocial behavior in children – part 1

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I’ll write a two piece article on conduct disorder and antisocial behavior in children here at HTCC. This should give you a great insight about how to understand the problem and the better way to deal with it. This first part presents the problem and teaches you how to detect that in your child. So let’s get to it, I hope you enjoy!

Conduct disorder and antisocial behavior in childrenCertain behaviors such as lying and skipping class, can be observed in the course of normal development of children and adolescents. To differentiate normality and psychopathology, it is important to verify that these antisocial behavior in children occur sporadically and in isolation or are syndromes representing a deviation from the standard behavior expected for people their age and sex in a given culture.

What the world says about antisocial behavior in children

The international literature addresses the issue of antisocial behavior from different points of view, taking into account the legal aspects (criminology) and psychiatric disorders. From a legal standpoint, the crime involves behaviors that violate the law. However, as not all antisocial children and youth transgressed the laws, the term was restricted to minor delinquent offenders (legal definition). The antisocial acts related to psychiatric disorders are more comprehensive and relate to behavior condemned by society, with or without breaking the laws of the State.

Based on international diagnostic criteria, such as the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV2 – learn more about this here), notes that the persistent antisocial behavior is part of some psychiatric diagnoses. The conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder diagnostic categories are used to children and adolescents, whereas antisocial personality disorder applies to individuals of 18 years of age or more .

In this article, it’s presented the main features of conduct disorder, emphasizing diagnosis, progression and treatment. Highlighting the factors associated with antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence in order to expand the vision of the mental health professional about the family and the community in which the child is inserted.

Conduct disorder

The conduct disorder is one of the most frequent psychiatric disorders in childhood and one of the biggest reasons for referral to a child psychiatrist. For example, disobedient children and adolescents with difficulty to accept rules and limits and defying the authority of parents or teachers often be referred to mental health services due to “conduct disorders”. However, young people with such disorders do not always meet the criteria for the diagnostic category of “conduct disorder”. Therefore, the term “conduct disorder” is not appropriate to represent psychiatric diagnoses.

In Canada, the conduct disorder affects 5.5% of the general population aged 4-16 years, with rates ranging from 2% (girls 4-11 years) to 10% (boys 12-16 years). The conduct disorder is more common in males, regardless of age, and more frequent in older children (12-16 years) compared to smaller (4-11 years), regardless of sex.

 

How to detect a child with conduct disorder

Considering that conduct disorder is a permanent tendency to display behaviors that annoy and disturb others, the involvement in dangerous and even illegal matters are not uncommon. These young people do not seem to have psychological distress or embarrassment with their own attitudes and do not mind hurting people’s feelings or disrespect their rights. Therefore, their behavior has more impact on others than on their selves. The antisocial behavior tend to persist, since they lack the ability to learn from the negative consequences of their own actions.

The clinical features of conduct disorder is characterized by persistent anti-social behavior in violation of social norms or individual rights. The diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV conduct disorder include 15 possibilities for antisocial behavior in children:

  • often haunts, torments, threatens or intimidates others,
  • often initiates physical fights,
  • has already used weapons that can cause serious injury (wood, stone, broken glass, knife, gun),
  • was cruel to people, injuring them physically,
  • was cruel to animals, hurting them physically,
  • stolen or assaulted, confronted the victim,
  • underwent to force someone into sexual activity,
  • fires started deliberately with the intention of causing serious harm,
  • deliberately destroyed others’ property (not fire),
  • breaking and entering house , building or car;
  • lie and cheat for material gain or favors or to avoid obligations;
  • stole valuables;
  • frequently spent the night outside, despite the prohibition of the parents (onset before 13 years)
  • ran away from home at least twice, spending the night outside, while living with parents or foster parents (or ran away from home once, absent for a long time)
  • missing school without reason, often ditching classes (beginning before age 15).

The diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV conduct disorder apply to individuals under the age of 18 and require the presence of at least three of these behaviors in the last 12 months and at least one anti-social behavior in the last six months, bringing important limitations in terms of academic, social or occupational.

Differential diagnoses include disorders reactive to stress and antisocial behavior due to psychotic symptoms (eg, manic episode). Children victims of domestic violence may exhibit antisocial behavior as a reaction to stress and teenagers in a manic episode may steal, forge signatures on checks or pick fights with wrestling as a result of the exaltation of humor and not due to conduct disorder.

THE COURSE AND ITS PROGNOSIS

Symptoms of conduct disorder arise in the period between the early childhood and puberty and may persist until the age when adult. Beginning before age 10, is observed more frequently with the presence of disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD – check Wikipedia’s definition), aggressive behavior, intellectual impairment, seizures and central nervous system impairment due to exposure to alcohol / drugs during prenatal infections, medications, head injuries, etc.., and a positive family history for hyperactivity and anti-social behavior. Early onset indicates greater severity with greater tendency to persist throughout life.

The conduct disorder is often associated with ADHD (43% of cases) and disorders of emotion (anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, 33% of cases). The comorbidity with ADHD is more common in childhood, mainly involving boys while comorbidity with anxiety and depression is more common in adolescence, mainly involving girls after puberty.

Antisocial behavior more severe (eg, fights with use of weapons, burglary, assault) are generally preceded by milder behaviors (eg, lying, cheating, skipping classes, steal objects of little value), and over time , there is the abuse of alcohol / drugs, mainly male to anxiety and depression, especially in female.

The conduct disorder is often associated with poor school performance and peer relationship problems, bringing the academic and social individual limitations to a more frequent basis, raising the display of risk behaviors involving sexual activity, drug abuse and even suicide attempts. Involvement with drugs and gangs can initiate the young into crime. In adulthood, was realized that there are serious consequences that cause antisocial behavior in children, such as marital discord, job loss, crime, prison and early violent death.

The persistence of antisocial behavior during adolescence and adulthood is favored in certain circumstances: when the conduct disorder begins early, when various types of antisocial behaviors are present, including aggressive and violent ones, when antisocial behaviors are quite common, when they are observed in different environments (eg, family and school), and when conduct disorder is associated with TDAH.

Life events may favor the persistence of antisocial behavior in adolescence and adulthood. The school environment, depending on their characteristics, can encourage or discourage antisocial behavior. The lack of jobs is a stressful situation that stimulates it, while the harmonious marriage with a person with no changes in behavior tends to diminish it.

At the same time that children with antisocial behavior tend to remain anti-social in adulthood, antisocial adults tend to have children with antisocial behavior (parents serve as role models to children), establishing a cycle of difficult interruption.

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The Social Development of Children

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Social development of childrenIt’s called social development what is observed in the behavior of some people, so act with respect to a given situation or person, and with special care when it comes to social development of children. Here we noted the child’s social development since our proposal is to clarify and perhaps aid in the understanding of some factors that influence decision making.

The stages of social development of children

The social development of a child is fully grounded in the physical, psychological and particularly the cognitive aspects. When these aspects are in harmony and are respected, the child’s social development occurs in a linear manner and without major problems, so it is worth remembering that medicine is in charge of physical care, psychology and pedagogy of emotional learning. All this is important before because the big challenge is to develop a child’s social aspect, and those linked to each other. Each phase of life is characterized by factors that influence child development so that the child feels it is part of the process of social interaction. The stages of social development are:

Stages of social development of childrenBirth: Being totally dependent of adults, baby starts its social development with great bond of dependence that can only lose later. Interestingly, after six weeks, he reacts in a specific way to the voice of the father or mother and has the reflexes present at birth.

Three and four months: The child responds positively to the voice he hears.

Four and five months: When presented with another child outlines the baby joy, smiles and intentionally can repeat the reactions that produce interesting results such as to stretch the legs to reach a doll hanging above the crib, only to see it swing.

Six months: Due to increased capacity of visual discrimination, the child feels the other’s presence and is attracted to him because it shows interest in news.

Seven months: At this stage of child development, the answer to the aggressive voice with weeping and threatening gestures is a hallmark.

Eight months to one year of age: During this period the child reacts to the voice of censure or unpleasant expression of a person with a smile after a moment’s hesitation.

Between one and two years of age: The child has a loving or hostile reaction when approaching another person depending on the type of experience he had.

Between two and three years of age: Very egocentric at this age, the child learns that this world there are rules that must be obeyed, so often the child would rather play alone than play with other children their age. Manifest attitudes, especially affection, love and hate and are easily noticed the jealousy of other children. This is an extremely important stage of social development of children, since its attitudes will affect how the child begins to recognize what is good and bad.

Between three and four years: At this age the child begins to develop the basics of responsibility and independence, which features a great progress in the development of symbolic capacity naturally preparing the child for the next stage which is the childhood and the early years of course work.

Four years active duty, the child learns that there are things she can not do both and animism (when you assign objects to life) as the nominal realism (when you believe that the name is part of the object) are forming elements of the process of socialization in which the child gradually ceases to be less egocentric and understands that their actions can affect people around you and expresses the need for social contacts.

Five years: The child already understands and knows which rules are important to follow socially accepted standards and clearly understands whether something is right or wrong. Develops on the rationalization of problem situations and choose a best friend who will be the one with which to analyze the behavior patterns taught by family and society. It begins the discovery of social relations which apprehends react to that like it or not despite their participation in the groups of games is still slow and selective.

Six years: This stage of development is characterized by the explosion of the language that the child has a vocabulary, which is already of about a thousand words he speaks, while understands probably another two or three thousand words. With the acquisition and discovery of new words and behavior patterns, the social development is favored which serves as a tool for progress in relations. This phase is characterized by the meeting of the pleasure in meeting small groups of children of the same sex because he needs some freedom within the group to which his actions are approved.

Remember that from six years of age, the child begins to compare with other children their age and situations like this with the growth of the child’s social life, tend to diminish the importance of parents and family as role models, increasing the importance of friends and teachers. The time of child’s social life outside the home is divided between the school and the group of friends and that’s why parents and teachers must have a lot of patience and dedication for all that. The stimulation of the social development of children during this phase will reflect the rest of the choices and interests the child has.

It is important to mention that the kind of self-image built during childhood may influence a person’s social behavior that characterizes both the pre-adolescence, adolescence and adulthood, and that is exactly why it is essential to work with models of positive values ​​and family principles, school and community.

As always, I organized a few other articles that might help you to learn more about the social development of children subject: