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Tantrums: Not Just the Terrible Twos. Rachel J. Valleley, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Munroe-Meyer Institute Licensed Psychologist. Behavioral Health Concerns in Primary Care. Behavior problems ranked #1 by pediatricians (Arnorfer et al., 1999)
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Tantrums: Not Just the Terrible Twos Rachel J. Valleley, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Munroe-Meyer Institute Licensed Psychologist
Behavioral Health Concerns in Primary Care • Behavior problems ranked #1 by pediatricians (Arnorfer et al., 1999) • Established link between medical and behavioral concerns (Wertleib et al., 1988) • ADHD evaluations increased three-fold in 1990s (Hoagwood et al.,2000) • In 24% of pediatric visits, behavior concern raised. Increases visit length from 11 to 17 minutes
Tantrums • What are tantrums? • Screaming, crying, kicking • Pleading • Pointing fingers • Pouting
Tantrums • Duration can be seconds to minutes typically • Most common for ages 2 to 4 but can occur at any age (80% of children)
Tantrums • Why do kids throw tantrums? • Frustrated with a task • Trying to develop independence skills, do things on their own • To get what they want • Tangible • Parental attention • To get out of what they don’t want to do
Tantrums • Occur anytime, any place • At home • Store • Car
When to be concerned about temper tantrums? • Lasts for long periods of time • Involves aggression • Occurs frequently • Causes distress to family • Interferes with daily living
Tantrums • Can lead to or be a sign of more serious difficulties • Oppositional Defiant Disorder • ADHD
Oppositional Defiant Disorder • Enduring pattern of uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figures that does not involve major antisocial violations. • Frequently gets confused with ADHD. Can have both.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder: DSM-IV Criteria • Loses temper • Argues with adults • Actively defiant or refuses to comply with adults’ requests or rules • Deliberately annoys people • Blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior • Touchy or easily annoyed by others • Angry and resentful • Spiteful or vindictive
Oppositional Defiant Disorder • Most common diagnosis given in our clinics in pediatric practices. • Can be setting specific • Occurring more with parents or other caregiver • Difficulties with sleeping, eating, and toileting. • Increased risk for other problems Dropping out, Abuse • Coercive Family Process
Oppositional Defiant Disorder • Misconception that “He’ll grow out of it”. • 67% at age 3 still have problems at age 9 • Often leads to Conduct Disorders or antisocial personality disorder. • Effective early intervention leads to long-term positive outcomes • No medication that will effectively work
Oppositional Defiant Disorder • Empirically-Supported Treatments: • Parent Training: Forehand & McMahon • Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Hembree-Kigin & McNeil
Treatment for ODD: Parent Training 1. Encourage/increase appropriate behavior • Differential Attention • Child’s Game • Sticker Charts/Grab Bag Prizes
Treatment for ODD: Parent Training • Differential attention • Attend to average behavior • Praise exceptional behavior
Treatment for ODD: Parent Training • The Child’s Game: A relationship-building activity that makes children want to earn your POSITIVE attention.
DO Describe Reflect Imitate Praise Touch DON’T Command Reprimand Question Treatment for ODD: Parent Training
Treatment for ODD: Parent Training • Sticker Charts/Grab Bag Prizes: • Bedtime routine, morning routine • Daily for overall behavior • Magic circle chart • Dot-to-dot’s • Grab Bag Prizes
Treatment for ODD: Parent Training 2. Decrease inappropriate behavior • Time out
Treatment for ODD: Parent Training • What is time out? • Time out is the removal of attention, tangibles, or anything interesting to the child for a brief amount of time.
Treatment for ODD: Parent Training • Common mistakes parents make • Talking to child in time out • Having time out be too long • Not having child do what is expected following the time out • Not expecting extinction burst
Treatment for ODD: Parent Training • Common uses for time-out • Noncompliance • Aggression • Rule infractions • Tantrums
Summary • Tantrums can be very distressing to parents • Good idea to assess for tantrums, noncompliance • How often? • How long? • What causes tantrums? • How does the parent respond? • Is this behavior distressing to the parent? • If problem exists, good idea to refer to behavior therapist • Early intervention results in best outcomes