Conducted-related issues must be dealt with

Building Resilience In Schoolchildren is the title of a study that was designed to identify the key risk factors that make young people develop social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, technically known as SEBD. The research also identified positive aspects that lead to an increase in pro-social behaviour.

Children with SEBD cover the entire range of ability but behave unusually or in extreme fashion in a wide variety of social, personal, emotional or physical circumstances. Their behaviour may be evident at several levels.

At the personal level, they may have poor self-image, anxiety, depression or withdrawal, resentment, vindictiveness or defiance. On the verbal level, such children could be silent or, on the other extreme, tend to threaten, interrupt, argue or swear. On the non-verbal level, there may be clinging, truancy, failure to observe the rules, disruptiveness, destructiveness, aggression or violence.

It is essential to note that some children with SEBD can demonstrate unusual and inappropriate quietness rather than disruptive behaviour. In adulthood, at the work skills level, they may then show an inability or unwillingness to operate without direct supervision, to concentrate, to complete tasks or to follow instructions.

Such individuals are often unable to trust or to form relationships with peers and adults.

This was the second phase of a four-step longitudinal study of Maltese students’ social and emotional well-being conducted by the European Centre for Educational Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health.

The study was carried out among Year 4 students and showed that one in 10 children are at significant risk of developing mental health problems. The same group of students of about 500 individuals had already been studied in Year 1, with very similar results. The same group will be restudied again in Form 3.

Interestingly, children tended to move across results strata in that, while some of them became more pro-social, others became more prone to SEBD issues. Boys are more likely to experience SEBD, especially in terms of conduct-related issues.

Students’ peer groups, bullying and the amount of parental attention were all major factors.

Risk factors were also cumulative. Single parents, who account for a quarter of Maltese births, tend to have children with SEBD because such people are at greater risk of poverty, have less time to dedicate to parenting and are more prone to stress, all of which are risk factors for SEBD.

The report indicated that students with five or more risk factors have a 75 per cent chance of developing SEBD in their formative years. It further notes that the greater the reduction in SEBD risk factors (along with the promotion of positive factors), the more chance vulnerable children have of taking a so-called resilient pathway, allowing them to “bounce back” from their problems.

Once the whole study is completed, it should allow providers to identify those factors that promote resilience, an ability to cope with unavoidable stressful factors.

Whether or not a child is considered to have SEBD depends on the nature, frequency, persistence, severity and cumulative effect of the behaviour when compared with the normal expectations for a child of the same age.

Such studies are, therefore, essential because conduct-related issues may extend into adulthood if not addressed early on. Prevention, as always, is best and can be addressed through a structured developmental approach.