All children misbehave from time to time, but some children suffer from persistent behavioral problems. They drive their care givers up the wall, and don’t respond well to discipline or guidance. This information will help you better understand behavioral problems in children and how to deal with them.
How Common Are Child Behavioral Problems?
Statistics on how many children are suffering from behavioral disorders can vary widely from study to study depending on what’s measured and how you measure it. It’s been found that out of every 200 elementary school students, around 9 will have behavioral problems severe enough to require specialist teaching, or just shy of 5% of students. (Church, 2011) This is probably a pretty accurate number in terms of those with significant problems that really stand out from their peers. It matches my own teaching experience, which typically brought me around 1-2 children with significant problems in every classroom of 20-30 students.
Yet this doesn’t capture the full spectrum of problems caregivers struggle with. The CDC recently reported that as many as 20% of children ages 3 to 17 have a mental, emotional or behavioral disorder in any given year. (Noonan, 2-17-2018) The ADHD label alone is now applied to around 5-10% of kids. So there are many more kids suffering from behavioral issues that aren’t as severe.
Rates of behavioral problems have also been on the rise in recent years, especially ones created by mental or emotional stress. (Twenge, 2017) Psychiatrist Erica Komisar says that over the past 3 decades, she’s seen an increase in children being diagnosed with ADHD and an increase in aggression in children, particularly in little boys. (Taranto, 2017)
More information on child behavioral problems
[child pages]
See also:
- Attachment disorders in kids
- Bipolar disorder in children
- Borderline personality disorder in kids
- Callous & unemotional traits in children
- Conduct disorder in children
- Disturbed children
- Oppositional defiant disorder in kids
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