Anticipatory guidance for behaviour concerns: School age children

Parenting powerfully influences children's cognitive and social-emotional development. Parents often have behaviour concerns and seek advice from their clinician. This paper is an evidence-based clinic tool to empower clinicians to promote pro-social behaviour through developmentally-targeted strategies that parents can use to decrease problem behaviour. Typical scenarios are provided for noncompliance, aggression, attention, and bedtime worries.

Authoritative parenting is essential for healthy outcomes. It combines warmth and structure to foster emotional regulation, attachment, and perspective-taking and problem-solving skills.

We present a framework for parenting strategies which integrates The Incredible Years Parenting Pyramid® and Antecedent-Behaviour-Consequence model, to guide parents on prevention of problem behaviour. The framework emphasizes daily relationship time and using empathy to the child to help him/her calm, become aware of his/her own emotions, and be receptive to the parent's instructions. It also teaches skills to replace the behaviour, providing physical needs, and explaining reasons for rules. When parents focus most of their time on the foundational skills of the pyramid, problem behaviour decreases, and consequences are rarely needed.

Managing behaviour concerns also requires screening for developmental and behavioural disorders, and following up to determine whether referrals are needed.

Anticipatory guidance for behaviour concerns prioritizes children's rights to respect and dignity.