Rethinking ‘wait and see’ philosophies for childhood disruptive behaviour: a guide for paediatric medical providers

ABSTRACT

Childhood disruptive behaviours are some of the most frequent concerns posed by families to child-focused medical providers. While prevalent and holding the potential to exacerbate into Disruptive Behaviour Disorders, some providers utilize ‘wait and see’ philosophies in the hopes that children will outgrow the concerns. Unfortunately, many do not, leading to additional problems that could have potentially been addressed more easily if the child received a more thorough evaluation and intervention when the behaviours were first suggested by a family. The purpose of this research-informed article it to not only provide a general discussion of childhood disruptive behaviours that highlights some of the possible hazards with ‘wait and see’ philosophies, but to also provide information to aid child-focused medical providers in determining normality from concerning behaviours, methods of evaluation, and the characteristics that should be sought in an evidence-based referral should a higher level of care be required.

KEYWORDS:

• Disruptive behaviour
• disruptive behaviour disorder
• oppositional defiant disorder
• wait and see
• early intervention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr. Jonathan Perle is a board certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist. He is currently an assistant professor and Coordinator of the Child and Adolescent Education Emphasis within the Department of Behavioural Sciences at Midwestern University. He is an educator, research, trainer, and practitioner. While treating a range of presenting concerns, through extensive specialized training, work, and research endeavours, he has developed a specialization in the assessment and treatment of both childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and DBDs.

ORCID

Jonathan G. Perle http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4118-4021