This document discusses the etiological factors and causes of emotional and behavioral disorders in children. It identifies biological and environmental factors such as inborn temperament, parental relationships, school experiences, and peer interactions as predisposing and precipitating causes. Sustaining factors that prolong disorders are also discussed. Characteristics of children with emotional and behavioral disorders are described, including difficulties with social skills, oppositional behavior, externalizing and internalizing disorders, aggression, delinquency, and identification/assessment methods.

1. Etiological factors AND
Causes of Emotional
AND Behavioral Disorders

2. Two factors in
the etiology or
causes of
emotional and
behavioral
disorders:
Biological Factors
Environmental
Factors
Home and Family
Influences
Authorities believe
that all children are
born with a
biologically
determined
temperament. The
inborn temperament
may not directly
cause a behavior
problem to occur but
may predispose the
child to behavior
disturbances.
• The relationship that a child with
the parents during the early
years is critical to the way he
learns to behave.
• Parental involvement in
providing for the child’s physical
and psychological needs is a
significant factor in developing a
healthy self-concept.
School
Experiences
• There are class rules to obey unlike at home
where he or she can do as he or she pleases.
• It is common for bigger classmates to bully the
small ones leading to fights and quarrels.
WHEN A CHILD IS NOT READY TO HANDLE THESE
EVENTS HE OR SHE RESORTS TO EXTERNALIZING
BEHAVIORS.
1.
2
.

3. Predisposing
factor
Precipitating
factors
Sustaining
Factors
The causes
of emotional
and behavioral
disorders are
related to:
refers to the tendencies and risks to develop
emotional disturbances.
Example: physical illness, shyness,
hyperactive behavior that may come about as a
result of heredity or emotionally dysfunctional
home environments.
refers to specific incidents that may
trigger the display of emotional
disturbances.
Example: death in the family,
abandonment, separation of parents
and other crisis situations.
These are factors that prolong the
course of illness and counteract
therapeutic efforts. May be
biological or psychological in
nature.

4. CHARACTERISTICS OF
CHILDREN AND YOUTH
WITH EMOTIONAL AND
BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

5. SOCIAL SKILLS AND
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
•The students with emotional and behavioral
disorders often experience great difficulty in
developing and maintaining interpersonal
relationships as early as during early
childhood. The problem in acquiring social
skills and maintaining healthy interpersonal
relationships persist through the adolescence

6. ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR
They show their disdain for society and
its norms by engaging in activities that go
against others and property.

7. OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANT
DISORDERSStudents or individuals with oppositional defiant disorder
consistently go against oppose, defy, and show hostility towards
authority figures. The symptoms are:
• Often loses one's temper
• Often argues with adult's requests or rules
• Often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult's requests or
rules
• Often deliberately annoys people
• Often blames others for one's mistakes or misbehavior
• Often touchy or easily annoyed by others
• Often angry and resentful

8. EXTERNALIZING AND INTERNALIZING
BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS
• Some children with emotional and behavioral disorders display
externalizing behavioral disorders that violate the rules and norms
of society and annoy and disturb other people. Example: out-of-seat
behavior, making unnecessary noise, truancy, disobedience, inattention,
persistent lying, constant blaming of others.
• Too little social interaction of children with Internalizing
behavioral disorders create a serious impediment to their
development. They lack on social skis, often daydream, tend to be
fearful without reason and may experience serious bouts of depression.
• This also involves mental or emotional conflicts that may go unnoticed.

9. AGGRESSIVE AND VIOLENT
BEHAVIOR
• Aggression refers to acts that are abusive, that severely
interfere with the activities of other people or objects
and events in the environment.
Kinds of Aggression
1. Milder forms of Aggression
Examples: teasing, clowning around, and bullying.
2. Severe Aggression
Threat of physical harm, physical attack, destruction of property and cruelty.

10. DELINQUENCY
• a behavior disorder
• is a legal term that refers fo the criminal offenses committed by
an adolescent. Criminial careers start an early age, usually by
age 12.

11. EXAMPLES OF DELIQUENT ACTS AND THE CRIMES
THEY CAN LEAD TO:
Juvenille Offenses Crimes
1. Breaking in and destroying private
property, attempted burglary, stealing,
shoplifting
1. Robbery
2. Brutality- beating up a person until he or
she is black and blue, burning a house or a
person, shooting a person
2. Attempted homicide, murder
3. Lascivious acts, touching the private parts
of a person, attempted eape especially of
children those with disabilities
3. Rape
4. Early smoking and drinking, experimenting
habituation to prohibited drugs
4. Committing crimes under the influence of
liquor, drugs, drug dependency, drug
pushing
5. Carrying a knife 5. Carrying deadly weapons
6. Disorderly conduct 6. Shooting incidents, murder

12. IDENTIFICATION AND
ASSESSMENT
Screening- is done to eliminate children who do not have
behavior problems. Children who show eaely signs or who
seem to be at risk for developing emotional and behavioral
disorders are identified.
Direct Observation- is done to determine the frequency,
duration, topography, and stimulus control of the behavior.
The cases that are found to be beyond the help of the
school and home authorities are reffered to professional
clinicians for assessment.