Troublesome Behavior Essay -- Psychology, Children Behavioral Disorder

Children often act out in inappropriate ways, however these irritations do not connote â€Å"troublesome† behavior (Wright, Tibbetts, and Daigle, 2008). Troublesome behavior describes age-inappropriate behaviors that continue into future years and inhibit healthy growth of the child. For example, a temper tantrum might be normal behavior for a young child, however it would be deemed inappropriate when the child reaches school age. When unseemly behaviors multiply to a certain level the child is considered behaviorally disordered. The criteria for such a diagnosis includes patterned symptoms that show at least short-term stability, symptoms that are present when around other adults besides their parents, severe symptoms, and symptoms that harm the child’s ability to handle developmental problems. These behaviors do not affect a large proportion of the population. One study showed about ten to fifteen percent of preschoolers demonstrates mild or moderate behavioral disorders (Campbell, 1995 as cited in Wright et al., 2008). Another study of three-year-olds found that severe behavior disorder afflicted 11 percent of the sample (Cornely and Bromet, 1986 as cited in Wright et al., 2008). Furthermore, in a study of parental reports of their 17-month-old children it was found that only 7.6 percent thought of their children as bullies and only 3.3 percent considered their children as cruel (Tremblay, 1999 as cited in Wright et al., 2008). In fact, only 1.5 to 3.4 percent of children are diagnosed with conduct disorder (Steiner and Dunne, 1997 as cited in Wright et al., 2008). However, other studies show that conduct disorder is found in five percent of ten-year-olds and ten percent of 12-year-olds (Wright et al., 2008). Also, ... ...criminality. It is associated with deviant behaviors and clinical disorders such as suicide, schizophrenia, and alcoholism. Moreover, most serotonin studies’ overall theme is that low levels of serotonin will prevent people from inhibiting their behavior. Furthermore, environmental conditions also affect serotonin levels. For example, serotonin levels fall during the winter and then rise again in spring. Dopamine is an excitatory neurotransmitter connected to the reward and punishment networks of the brain (Wright et al., 2008). A person’s state of excitement is increased with dopamine activity, which has a positive effect on problem solving, directed thinking, and attention span. Over production of dopamine has been associated with aggression and violence (Fishbein, 2001; Babel, Stadler, Bjorn, and Shindledecker, 1995 as cited in Wright et al, 2008).