Supporting Children with Challenging Behaviors and Mental Health Needs
This blog post is part of NHSA’s initiative, the Year of Whole Health.
An estimated 1 in 5 children experience a mental disorder in the United States each year. This is a critical public health concern that impacts healthy outcomes for children during vital stages of development. Children experiencing mental disorders often display certain behaviors like crying, aggression, defiance, and other challenging behaviors in the classroom and at home.
It can be difficult to understand why the child may be displaying these behaviors and how we should respond appropriately to support the child’s unique needs.
During the Year of Whole Health month in December, NHSA shared resources and tools to help you to understand why children may display challenging behaviors and how to support children in an appropriate way to improve healthy outcomes.
What did we do last month?
In support of December’s Year of Whole Health month, NHSA’s Parent and Family Engagement Conference included many sessions focused on addressing challenging behaviors and supporting the mental and behavioral health needs of children and families in Head Start.
To kick off the conference, the Office of Head Start hosted a free two-day Mental Health Institute the Sunday and Monday before the conference began. This training covered the fundamentals of child and adult mental health, developmentally appropriate behaviors, trauma-informed care, and the application of mental health knowledge to address adversities like addiction and domestic violence.
What did we learn?
The foundation for sound mental and social-emotional health begins in early childhood and can be influenced by a variety of factors ranging from the child’s relationships with parents and caregivers to the child’s surrounding environment. Negative experiences that disrupt these factors in early childhood hinder a child’s ability to develop strong mental health and often cause children to communicate their emotions and needs through challenging behaviors. Each child is unique and the behaviors they are expressing can be attributed to very individual experiences. It is important to respond appropriately and individually to children expressing challenging behaviors by teaching positive behaviors and strong social-emotional skills during these vital stages of development.
What can you do?
Explore these resources below to better understand how to support and respond to children expressing challenging behaviors and mental health needs:
- The National Center for Quality Teaching and Learning’s webinars titled, Teachers’ Choice! Digging Deeper into Challenging Behavior: Part 1 & Part 2
- Research, trainings, and tools related to challenging behaviors on the The Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC) website
- Vroom tools and resources for building strong relationships and interactions to prevent and respond positively to challenging behaviors
If you have any questions about this topic or any other topic within NHSA’s Year of Whole Health Initiative, please contact Sarah Neil at sneil@nhsa.org.
