Here are some of the best indicators that a child’s behavior is something abnormal:

Signs of behavior problems in children

1. Acting out elsewhere

All kids can be brats at home. Yet most are relatively well-behaved in more formal social situations with less familiar adults. If your child is having behavioral problems outside the home, it’s likely a problem.

2. A child is angry

All children get upset when you interfere with their goals, and may throw a tantrum. But if a child seems “angry at the world” so to speak, or if they respond with disproportionate anger to minor slights from others, it’s usually a problem.

3. They are backsliding instead of making progress

Normal children will grow out of things like fits and tantrums as they continue to develop, especially as they progress into their elementary school years and acquire greater social and emotional control. If this doesn’t seem to be happening, or if a child is backsliding rather than progressing, it’s a problem.

4. It coincides with family conflict or a history of problems

Behavioral problems often emerge from dysfunctional families and/or high-conflict homes. “At a very early age, high risk, oppositional children are engaged in day-to-day warfare with their parents, and their parents are heavily engaged in the process.” (Reid, 1993, p. 247) Therefore if a child’s behavioral problems coincide with high degrees of conflict in the home, it’s like a problem. Likewise, having an older child whose been diagnosed with a behavioral disorder is one of the best predictors of a problem in their siblings, because the same dynamics are in play. Therefore if an older child is struggling, you should assume their younger siblings are also at risk and address the issue as a matter of course.

It’s typically more worrisome when behavioral problems emerge in younger children, if for no other reason than they tend to grow more severe with time (and also more entrenched).

See also…

• Signs & Symptoms of ADHD

• Signs & symptoms of conduct problems

• Signs & symptoms of callous unemotional traits