Child's Defiance Can Have Emotional Reasons, Experts Say

Some children tend to choose to disobey rules. Sometimes, their actions, specifically the sudden outbursts or destructive behavior, affect family life or school performance.

These actions could be a sign of oppositional defiant disorder or ODD.

What is ODD?

According to experts, a pattern among children with ODD is observed. Their behavior includes an irritable mood, argumentative behavior, and/or being mean in six months.

Some examples of their behavior are losing of temper, refusing to obey rules, or blaming others for bad behavior.

Although these signs may raise the red flag, experts still suggest that a professional assessment is done to further understand the child's behavior.

A 'defiant' child, according to evidence from clinical researches, has possible causes. Specifically, these causes are called "emotional explanations" on what could be the problem that is possibly unnoticed to some parents.

Defiance or resistance could be a symptom of anxious distress.

Research shows that forty percent of children who exhibit criteria of ODD is also exhibiting signs of anxiety disorder. This statistic is an indication that there almost half of those who show behavior problems could also be experiencing a significant amount of anxiety.

Researchers have been trying to see the direction of these two types of disorders, but as of now, it is still dependent on several individual and environmental factors.

Nevertheless, it is safe to say that there are times that the defiant behavior can be due to extreme anxiety.

One of the primary features of anxiety disorder is the uncontrollable urge of a person to worry. Because of this, when children have an untreated anxiety disorder, they also tend to have difficulties in controlling or coping with their emotions, especially if it is an anxiety-inducing situation.

Also, the more serious fear and anxiety are, the more children opt to oppose it. That is their way of escaping a situation that is emotionally distressful for them.

READ ALSO: How To Raise Helpful and Generous Kids  

One symptom of depression could be defiance.

Research from the Centers for Disease Controls shows that among older children, depression has a greater rate of occurrence compared to that of anxiety and other behavior disorders. Considering this, there is a possibility that childhood misbehavior could be a sign of depression symptoms.

Irritability is also a feature of depression in children. Because of this, there is also a reason for some people to view that a depressed child has a tendency to act out.

Defiance could be an indication of traumatic stress.

Lastly, the previous experiences of a child could be the reason why there is childhood defiance. If the experience is specifically traumatic, oppositional defiance could be the way a child reacts to it.

A big portion of children who experienced trauma also shows drastic changes in behavior. These behavior are also associated with symptoms that are characterized by ODD.

There are different forms of trauma that can be noted. These are violence, natural disasters, and even medical trauma. 

Although there are children who eventually recover from traumatic stress, there are still several children who do not. These children experience long-term effects, which include behavioral problems.