Behavioral modification program for children

Behavioral Modification

Description of the Group

As children grow physically, emotionally, and mentally, psychological development becomes a crucial process in growing up healthy. When children transition from being little kids to beginning their adolescent years, a lot of psychological growth occurs. But when this healthy process becomes interrupted by behavioral or mood disorders, plenty of harm could be done to the projected developmental process. On April 28th, 2011, we worked with a group of five to ten-year-old African-American children. They were all being developmentally affected by either ADHD, Depression, or Mood Disorders. Specifically the child that we decided to focus on was a 10-year-old African-American boy in the fifth grade. He was displaying anger, rage, and aggression which had chronically impaired him for three years, but was responding well to a mood stabilizer and an atypical antipsychotic. He had a family history of Bipolar Disorder (Flanagan & Samantha, 2011).

Appropriate tasks for stage of development according to Erikson

According to Erik Erikson, the stage of development that the 10-year-old child is currently going through is that of Industry vs. Inferiority which covers the ages of six through twelve years old. During the development of this stage, the main component is competency and is often called Latency. Children at this age start to have socializing as a main part of their lives and so this is the most important part of this developmental stage. Children at this age are capable of accomplishing numerous new skills, acquiring novel knowledge, and learn and create various new things during this stage (Flanagan & Samantha, 2011). Children at this age can experience unresolved feelings of inadequacy and inferiority when they compare themselves to their peers and can lead to questioning their competence and their self-esteem. As they continue to grow throughout this stage, parents are no longer the center role in their development nor are they the only form of authority. Schools, neighborhoods, and their peers start to become their most significant relationships (Perry et al., 2009).

A child's goal during this stage is to develop a sense of Industry and show and feel pride in everything that they accomplish. This is in return reinforced by praises and encouragement from parents and teachers alike. When they are taught to believe in themselves and have other people believing in them as well, they develop a sense of competency (Perry et al., 2009). Those who do not receive the encouragement necessary will become doubtful in their ability to succeed. This will then cause a feeling of Inferiority and hope in their ability becomes lost, causing a child to retreat in isolation and feel inadequate when compared to their peers.

Rationale for selecting health topic presented

Our rationale for selecting the health topic of behavior medications in children is based on the fact that mortality rates for mood disorders is 2-3 times higher (Perry et al., 2009). This has been an overwhelming problem in today's society. Understanding the cause of mood disorders in the first place will in turn bring on more benefits. Being able to address behavioral issues in a structured way and teaching children how to better manage their rages (as was the case for the 10-year-old boy with Bipolar Disorder) may have better results than just giving a child medication.

How topic was presented

We presented the topic by implementing an alternative to medication management, such as shaping. Shaping is providing the child with cues and reinforcements to help them better manage their behavior and in return give a better, more desirable behavior. As behavior gets shaped, so does personality, which causes a better attitude and outcome all around. Evidence that structure and reinforcements work can be found in the educational system (kbarlowe, 2010). By praising a child every time they do something correctly instead of reprimanding him every single time he does something wrong, can better his self-esteem and show him that he is in control of his actions and feelings. A program that gives rewards for every accomplishment in form of tokens or tickets which can then be redeemed for things such as movie tickets or restaurant vouchers (something that is practical and useful) can be a motivator in children with mood disorders. A goal of a certain number or tickets could be set so that the child is often motivated to behave appropriately in order to attain the desired prize. Tickets or tokens should never be taken away or revoked since previous desired behavior has already earned them the current number of tokens or tickets, but not giving the redeemable tickets or tokens will be a better option. Ignoring his attention seeking behaviors and praising him for what he has done correctly will demonstrate to him that he will not get what he wants by acting out and will modify his behaviors to seek the positive attention and rewards that he is receiving. Children at this developmental stage just want to feel like they belong, like they are accepted into a society that often times rejects them for being "different." They want to feel that they are being rewarded and praised for accomplishing what they set out to accomplish. Too many times, children with behavioral or mood disorders are accustomed to receiving just negativity such as yelling by the parent, and disapproval for things that are done wrong or things that might be said wrong, that they are not used to getting things any other way (kbarlowe, 2010). Motivating the child to keep on doing good things and to learn how to distinguish their negative behaviors from their positive ones, will in turn allow them to excel, and therefore shape their behavior. Structure of this sort is provided in academic settings and many children with mood disorders tend to thrive or to not show their aggressive behavior as much and it is this that we want to achieve.

Group Member's Contribution