OVERVIEW

Behavioural problems are the most common problems encountered by children’s mental health professionals. About 10% of all Canadian children exhibit anti-social behaviours, such as anger and aggression, which can seriously affect their ability to relate to others and to do well in school. Many of these children have parents who also have difficulties with their own anger.

If left untreated, childhood behavioural problems, characterized by anger and aggression, can lead to increased rates of school dropout, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, and poor peer relationships in adolescence. Therefore, it is essential that treatments are developed that decrease anger and aggression early in childhood.
Researchers at the Offord Centre for Child Studies have spent a good deal of time studying what causes anger and aggression in children and youth, why these behaviours seem to be more prevalent today than they were 20 or 30 years ago, and what we can and should be doing to help children with such difficulties.