CHAPTER FIVE
Factors Affecting Behaviour
Stress Factors
Before we look at managing children’s behaviour in the pre-teen and early teenage years, I want to look at some factors (sometimes crises) which can adversely affect children’s behaviour at any age. Some of these factors will be obvious, some will not, while others may surprise you as being the cause of your child’s sudden decline in acceptable behaviour. Children can react to emotional events and crises very differently from adults, often internalising their pain until eventually it bubbles up and explodes into anger.
Stress is a part of everyday life, and a little stress, which gets the adrenalin pumping, is no bad thing, as it can fuel ambition and achievement. Too much stress, however, can have an adverse effect on physical and mental health, and on behaviour, in adults and children. The top most stressful factors affecting adults are generally accepted to be the death of a loved one; divorce or separation; loss of a job; moving house; imprisonment; retirement; and, since 9/11, world events. These stress factors will also affect your child, together with others, which I shall come to later.
Stress in children manifests itself in the following ways:
* sudden behavioural problems, including angry outbursts and aggression
* irritability
* mood swings
* sleeplessness, nightmares, sleepwalking, talking in their sleep, teeth grinding or clenching
* stomach ache, headache, diarrhoea
* lethargy
* hyperactivity
* having difficulty concentrating
* nail biting, hair pulling, self-harming
* being tearful
* becoming withdrawn and suddenly unwilling to socialise.
This list is not exhaustive, and different symptoms can appear together, so that, for example, a child might be very angry and confrontational one minute and dissolve into tears the next. Any sudden and worrying change in your child’s behaviour could be a sign of stress and needs to be investigated.
While you will obviously be very sympathetic and supportive as you work through a difficult time together, it is not helpful to allow your child’s behaviour to disintegrate as a result of family crisis or anxiety. Indeed keeping the familiar routine and boundaries for behaviour in place is reassuring for the child, as these factors can remain constant when others are in a state of turmoil. In managing children’s unacceptable behaviour resulting from stress, we shall still be using the 3Rs, with the emphasis on Reassuring.
Bereavement
Clearly you will be acutely aware of this factor, and will be helping your child through their loss in any way you can – by talking, reassuring and giving lots and lots of cuddles. You will also probably be having to deal with your own sorrow at the passing of a loved one, and it is acceptable for you to show your child just how upset you are. When dealing with bereavement, many parents feel they have to put on a brave face and hide their emotion for the sake of their child. This will not help you, and will also discourage your child from expressing their own pain and sorrow. Adults usually deal with bereavement by crying, feeling very sad and talking to others about their dearly departed. Children do too, to some extent, but they can also become very angry when someone close dies, feeling they have been cheated by having their loved one taken away. This is very true of boys who, because of gender stereotyping, may not feel able to shed tears and share their grief, with the result that it ‘pressure cooks’ until the lid blows off.
One twelve-year-old boy I know, who lost his father in a road accident, appeared to cope with his pain remarkably well. He continued going to school and doing his homework, helped his mother all he could and reassured his younger brother. Six months later he was truanting, swearing and getting into fights, and eventually he got into trouble with the police. By not admitting to or sharing his grief, feeling that his mother already had enough to cope with, he’d bottled it up to the point where all his anger at the loss of his father had to come out and exploded into his behaviour. His mother had understandably been so immersed in her own sorrow, and keeping things going in the house, that she hadn’t noticed the warning signs in her son. Fortunately, with the help of a bereavement counsellor the boy was able to express his grief and anger at losing his dad, and eventually got his life back on track.
While it can be difficult for a parent to keep in place a routine and boundaries in the midst of grieving, it is also crucial to try to do so. A familiar routine, with familiar boundaries, feels safe and secure for the child when everything else in their life is falling apart and out of control. Talk to your child about the loss you are both experiencing and work through the grieving process, with the routine and boundaries for good behaviour still in place. So that if Tom is suddenly confrontational, angry and swearing at you, you can say, ‘Tom, love, I know how upset you are. We are both very upset,
