Abstract

BOLSONI-SILVA, Alessandra Turini; PAIVA, Mariana Marzoque de  and  BARBOSA, Caroline Garpelli. Behavior problems in children/adolescents and difficulties for parents/caretakers: a characterization study. Psicol. clin. [online]. 2009, vol.21, n.1, pp.169-184. ISSN 0103-5665.

Families that stimulate social skills behaviors seem to favor their children's social development. Thus, to intervene in the parents' relationship seems to be a means to minimize certain behavior problems. For an effective intervention it is recommended to characterize the demands of individuals that seek assistance, be it through the characterization of the parents'/caretakers' behaviors, as well as through the characterization of the children's/adolescent's skills and/or difficulties. The objective of the research was to characterize, through a Semi-structured Clinical Interview, complaints and difficulties of 59 parents/caretakers that looked for psychological assistance in a Center of Applied Psychology. The main results are: a) complaints of externalizing problems, such as aggressiveness, disobedience and obstinacies; b) difficulties of the parents/caretakers regarding the skills involved in establishing limits (to beat the child/adolescent and not have consistency) and in communication. This paper discusses the interdependence between the adults' behaviors and the ones exhibited by children/adolescents and repercussions for future interventions.

Keywords : characterization; social skills; behavior problems.

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