Managing angry feelings: teaching troubled children to cope
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Abused children struggle with anger management due to inadequate social learning. Hospitalization offers nurses a unique opportunity to teach these children vital assertiveness and social skills.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Nursing Education
- Social Learning Theory
Background:
- Children with a history of abuse often exhibit difficulties in managing anger.
- Inadequate modeling of conflict resolution by caregivers hinders social and emotional development in abused children.
Observation:
- Nurses observe children's behavior patterns during daily activities in a hospital setting.
- Close contact allows for identification of specific challenges in anger expression and social interaction.
Findings:
- Hospitalization provides an optimal environment for nurses to intervene.
- Nurses can effectively teach appropriate social and assertiveness skills to abused children.
Implications:
- Interventions during hospitalization can improve long-term emotional regulation in abused children.
- Nurses play a crucial role in addressing the social and emotional deficits resulting from abuse.
- This approach can enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of nursing care for vulnerable pediatric populations.
Abstract:
Children who have a history of physical and emotional abuse present special problems to nurses who attempt to teach them more effective ways of dealing with anger. Since the adults in abused children's lives have not modeled constructive conflict resolution, the social and cultural learning about aggression in such children frequently has been inadequate. The author asserts that because nurses are in close contact with the children and can observe patterns of behavior during their regular daily activities, hospitalization may prove the ideal situation to teach such children appropriate social and assertiveness skills.