Aggressive behavior is common among preschool children. In most children, their level of aggression drops between the ages of three and four. However, there are some children who continue to be highly aggressive.
Maartje Raaijmakers studied the impact of the parenting class “Incredible Years” on this behavior. She calls the findings promising. A year after the end of the course, she found both improvements in the child-rearing skills of the parents and in the observed behavior of four-year-old children. But the parents themselves do not report improvements in their children’s behavior.
Research has shown that these children run a greater risk of developing disruptive behavioral disorders, which can result in high costs, substance abuse, and criminality. To avoid these negative repercussions, these aggressive behavior patterns have to be changed as early as possible.
Raaijmakers also shows that aggressive children make more use of available services than those who exhibit little aggressive behavior. This leads to high costs, even in young children. This behavior is also more stressful for their families.
Maartje Raaijmakers will receive her PhD from UMC Utrecht on October 30. The title of her dissertation is “Aggressive behavior in preschool children: Neuropsychological correlates, costs of service use, and preventive efforts.”