Wednesday, September 11, 2013

You Don't Say!


A new study printed in the British Journal of Psychiatry tells us that kindergarteners who exhibit disruptive behaviors in school and receive attention to those issues may face a lower risk of abusing substances like drugs and alcohol during adolescence than those whose issues are not addressed.  I had a very quick gut response to that revelation--- DUH!

I truly hope that there were not a lot of resources pulled from other projects at University of Montreal to focus solely on this one.  I understand that we cannot act in all things based on logic without proof but it kills me that there was sufficient opposition to merit further study to the idea that taking kids who are acting out early in life and working with them will help them later in life.  Not only does working with the troubled kids teach them the tools to deal with the social challenges that are causing their anxiety or antisocial behavior.  It also teaches them that people care enough about them to try to help them.  The confidence that instills could certainly have a positive effect on a young person's social trajectory.  The reverse makes sense too, if a child is acting out and there is no help forthcoming a very important message is sent to that child as well.  Whatever validation or response or training they needed which caused the original behavioral issues has still not been addressed and their behavior will continue to suffer until those needs are met. 

I recognize that there are good reasons to do research on anything which may help funds become available to intervene as early as possible to help our kids but I found the outcomes of this study rather predictable.  Let's pray it can help the youngsters get the assistance they need as early as possible.

Tackling disruptive behavior in early childhood could prevent substance use in adolescence

3 comments:

  1. Next up: How attention in early childhood affects relative testicular size in adults.

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