Accompanying symptoms in children with behavioural problems

A psychological imbalance is not only evident in the child’s social behavior, which is the easiest to observe, but also in other areas of life. These symptoms may include chewing fingernails or eating and sleeping problems in children who are particularly anxious or shy. Children who become conspicuous in everyday life through loud and disturbing behavior can be internally insecure and unhappy.

Especially with these children, less obvious problems are quickly overlooked. Self-injuring behaviour and (re)wetting can also occur in children with behavioural problems. In older children, the psychological strain regularly manifests itself in low self-esteem, depression and similar psychological problems.

Classification of behavioral and emotional disorders in children

In psychotherapy, behavioral problems are divided into different categories. This classification includes, among others:

Hyperkinetic disorder
Disruption of social behavior
Emotional disorder
Combined disorder of social behavior and emotional sensitivity

Hyperkinetic disorder in children is characterized by a high degree of inattention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity. As a rule, the behavioral disorders that belong to the group of hyperkinetic disorders occur before the age of 7.Children’s behavior deviating from the norm is evident in the home environment as well as in elementary and school settings.

It is estimated that about 3-5% of children are affected by a hyperkinetic disorder. Disorders of social behavior are characterized by a number of behaviors, including: strong and repetitive outbursts of anger, disobedient behavior, aggressiveness towards both humans and animals, destruction of property, lying and stealing, tyrannizing of fellow human beings and recurring quarrels. A disturbance of social behavior generally manifests itself in a dissociative and aggressive pattern of behavior that extremely exceeds the usual amount of childish nonsense and teasing.

Antisocial behavioral disorders often occur in combination with hyperkinetic disorders, which are characterized by impulsiveness, aggression and hyperactivity. About 5% of all children show a disorder in their social behavior. In the case of emotional disorders or anxiety disorders, the children show a higher degree of anxiety or anxious sensation than their developmental state allows. Emotional disorders include extreme separation anxiety as well as phobic and social anxiety. It is estimated that about 11-19% of all children suffer from an anxiety disorder.