So why do kids become disturbed? What causes psychological or behavioral disturbances in children? Though the answer to this question is unique to every child, here are the most common culprits, in order of most common causes to least common ones:

Disturbed children & attachment trauma

By leaps and bounds the most common cause of psychological and behavioral disturbances is attachment trauma. Most seriously disturbed kids are found within the ranks of the foster care system, and developed their disturbances following the trauma of being yanked from their homes by CPS. Parental absence or abandonment can also cause it. For instance, one girl suddenly descended into psychosis that left her cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals after her parents divorced when she was 12. (Antrim, 2021) Another girl fell into psychosis after her father left when she was 8. By 9, this formerly healthy and normal child was throwing uncontrollable fits. Her mental health deteriorated to the point where she was placed in a psychiatric institution, and eventually placed in the foster care system, both of which only made her problems worse. (Hylton, 2009)

Feeling loved and supported by stable caregivers is a child’s most important psychological need. So when something happens to disrupt this connection – whether that be foster care, adoption, parental death, parental abandonment, divorce, parental substance abuse, a parent’s psychological problems, and so forth – it creates a gaping wound in their psyche that can lead to psychological disturbances.

See also:

Attachment disorders in children

Our book The Child Snatchers discusses America’s foster care system, exploring the attachment trauma CPS inflicts and why so many foster kids become seriously disturbed.

Neglect

When kids are neglected, it prevents them from developing healthy attachments in the first place. Because children are so dependent on adults for emotional regulation, neglect also prevents a child’s emotional centers from developing properly. Both of these factors can create a disturbed child.

Bullying & abuse can cause psychological disturbances in children

Child abuse and bullying, (which are really just two different versions of the same thing), can sometimes create childhood disturbances. Anytime a child is treated aggressively by the people around them, this can feed into a festering rage that ultimately causes a behavioral disturbance.

See our information on bullying

Chronic abuse by a parent also chips away at a child’s attachment security. However, this factor remains a distant third to attachment-related traumas, and most children who are bullied or abused will not become a disturbed child because of it.

Genetic factors & psychological disturbances in children

DNA and genetics play some role in psychological and behavioral disturbances. Occasionally you’ll encounter a disturbed child who emerges from an otherwise normal family with loving, capable parents and no obvious risk factors. So some disturbances may be inherent to a child’s nature, especially when you’re dealing with things like schizophrenia, psychopathy or sociopathy.

However, I would caution readers not to put excessive stock in the genetic hypothesis. Studies linking genes to behavior are inherently fraught, and most of these studies that do turn up a positive link between a gene and behavior can account for no more than 1-3% of the variance. If you tally the total for every single gene sequence that’s ever been linked to behavior, it accounts for no more than 20% or 30% of the variance. Moreover, genes do not and cannot operate independently of the environment. Genes may increase a child’s reactivity or alter the baseline of their stress response or dopamine levels, but whether these risk factors translate into psychological disturbances is usually dependent upon the environment.

Chemical exposures & prenatal development

We live in a world awash in chemical toxins, and many of these chemicals can affect the brain in a way that adversely impacts behavior. Lead exposure is particularly toxic, and high enough levels have been linked to things like ADHD, criminality, and the onset of psychological disturbances. (See our book: Toxic Environments for more on this topic.)

Likewise, prenatal drug exposure and/or birth complications have been linked to an increase in psychological and behavioral problems. In particular, smoking during pregnancy and birth complications that deprive a child’s brain of oxygen have been linked to psychological, emotional or behavioral disturbances in children.

See also:

[Sibling-pages]

The following books will help those working with and caring for disturbed children:

• Vulnerable Children (Explores caring for disadvantaged kids and healing their wounds)
• Difficult Children (Features tips for working with kids who have behavioral disorders)

Citations:

Antrim, D. (2021) “The hospital,” The New Yorker, Aug. 16, pp. 48-51

Hylton, W.S. (2009) “The unspeakable choice,” GQ, April, pp. 156-162