Behavioural Disorders in Children

Study Notes

Behavioural Disorders in Children

A behaviour disorder is when a child's behaviour is noticeably different from what is expected in the school or community.
Classification of individuals with emotional or behavioural disorders is affected by heredity, environment, learning conditioning, and positive reinforcements.

Categories of Behaviour Disorders

Habit disorders (tension-releasing disorders):
- Finger (thumb) sucking
- Nail biting
- Tics
- Teeth grinding (Bruxism)
Emotional disorders:
- Breath holding spasms
- Temper tantrums
Eating disorders:
- Pica

Head Banging

Rhythmic hitting of the head against a solid surface, often the crib mattress
Occurs in 5-20% of children during infancy and toddler years
Benign and self-limiting
Can result in callus formation, abrasions, and contusions
Treatment: assurance, ignoring the behaviour, and padding

Finger Sucking and Nail Biting

Sensory support for the child to cope with stressful situations
Reinforced by attention from parents
Predisposing factors: developmental delay, neglect
Adverse effects: malocclusion, mastication difficulty, speech difficulty, and lisping
Management: reassurance, improving parental attention, ignoring the behaviour, and teaching substitute behaviours

Temper Tantrums

Occurs in 18-month to 3-year-olds due to the development of sense of autonomy
Child displays defiance, negativism, and oppositionalism
Normal part of child development, gets reinforced when parents respond with punitive anger
Precipitating factors: hunger, fatigue, lack of sleep, innate personality, ineffective parental skills, over pampering, and dysfunctional family
Management: setting a good example, paying attention to the child, spending quality time, having open communication, and consistency in behaviour

Evening Colic

Intermittent episodes of abdominal pain and severe crying in normal infants
Begins at 1-2 weeks of age and persists until 3-4 months
Definition: infant cries for more than 3 hours per day, more than 3 days a week, for more than 3 weeks
Attack: begins suddenly, lasts for several hours, and terminates after exhaustion or passage of flatus or feces
Management: holding the child erect or prone, avoiding drugs, and counselling parents to cope with the situation

Eating Disorder: Pica

Repeated or chronic ingestion of non-nutritive substances
Examples: mud, paint, clay, plaster, charcoal, soil, and fecal matter
Normal in infants and toddlers, but needs investigation after 2 years of age
Predisposing factors: parental neglect, poor supervision, mental retardation, lack of affection, and family disorganization
Screening indicated for: iron deficiency anemia, worm infestations, lead poisoning, and family dysfunction

Breath Holding Spasms

Types: simple, cyanotic, pallid, and complicated breath-holding spells
Precipitating factors: frustration, injury, anger, and anemia
Management: no treatment is usually needed, iron supplements for children with iron deficiency, and general measures to calm the child during a spell

Emotional Disorders

School Phobia: approximately 1 to 5% of school-aged children, most common in 5- and 6-year-olds and 10- and 11-year-olds
School refusal differs from truancy, and is caused by fear or anxiety about school

Tics

Definition: sudden, repetitive, non-rhythmic motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups
Types: motor tics (12-20% of children, peak age 5-7 years) and phonetic tics (more common in boys)
Common types:
- Simple tics: grimacing, yawning, grunting, sighing, blinking, and wrinkling
- Complex tics: jumping, spinning, touching objects or people, echopraxia, copropraxia, palilalia, and echolalia
Tic disorders: transient, chronic, and Tourette's syndrome (Gilles de la Tourette syndrome)
Management: various strategies to manage tics, including medication and therapy

Description

This quiz covers the basics of behavioural disorders in children, including their classification, causes, and types such as habit disorders and emotional disorders. Learn about the different categories of behaviour disorders and their characteristics.