How To Manage Behavioral Problems In Adolescents? 6 Tips
Adolescence is a stage of life marked by rebellion or, at least, by the evident distancing between the young people who go through it, on the one hand, and the adults who care for them or supervise them, on the other. This makes the appearance of conflicts very common, friction between two very different value systems, priorities that have nothing to do with each other and, in general, habits that are difficult to make fit together.
In this article we will see how to manage behavioral problems in adolescents based on simple psychological principles Also used in therapy and behavior modification programs in general.
Tips for managing behavioral problems in adolescents
Apply these educational and parenting guidelines to manage the bad behavior of a teenage son or daughter, keeping in mind that you must adapt these tips to the particular case of your family and the way of being of the young person.
1. Define what the problem is
The first step consists of put into words the problem to be addressed Do you spend too much time playing video games? Don’t you do your homework? Does he respond badly to you when you ask him for things? Leaving open the question of what is wrong usually gives way to many errors, so it is important to go through this stage of analyzing the situation which, on the other hand, does not usually take too much time.
2. Detect aspects of his life in which he needs you
Observe carefully what the adolescent’s priorities are Don’t take anything for granted when considering what their tastes and interests are (something very common among fathers and mothers who maintain poor communication with their children is to assume that they are interested in what the majority of young people are usually interested in). that age).
Once you’ve done that, stop and think about what aspects of their life they need you most. This way, you will know where to start when negotiating compliance with future standards of behavior.
3. Apply the rules of behavior
It is important that the adolescent feels that there is a before and after the application of this set of rules, given that those that existed previously have not been met. This provides legitimacy to the new system of rules of behavior.
Besides, the implications of complying with them and failing to comply with them must be explained, and take advantage of the elements that we have learned in the previous point: what can we offer you in greater quantity if you do it well? And what will we start to offer you less if you break the rules?
4. Don’t threaten punishments
In general, it is inadvisable to go for punishment; Adolescents see this as confirmation that they should not strive to satisfy their parents, who are usually seen as people too different from them to hope to meet their expectations.
A punishment usually alienates the young person who suffers it, by increasing his hostility towards the person who has imposed that punitive measure When they are used, it should only be in the case of very harmful behaviors, and always providing an explanation that clearly shows the reason for the situation.
Congratulations when you manage to progress, notice that what he or she does has an immediate impact on your attitude toward him or her and also increases your self-esteem. There is no point in hiding that we are happy with what he achieves, in any case we are removing incentives to continue.
6. Apply all of the above consistently
Avoid contradicting yourself as much as possible, making the rules of behavior vary radically, and in general showing arbitrariness in your way of establishing rules to follow. If you do, you will be showing that none of these measures are effective enough or make sense, and therefore no one should take them seriously.
