Acting Out Health Article

Definition

Acting out is defined as the release of out-of-control aggressive or sexual impulses in order to gain relief from tension or anxiety. Such impulses often result in antisocial or delinquent behaviors. The term is also sometimes used in regard to a psychotherapeutic release of repressed feelings, as occurs in psychodrama.

Infants and toddlers

The earliest acting out behaviors are often referred to as temper tantrums. These behaviors are usually first observed in infants between the ages of 12 and 18 months of age. At that point, temper tantrums can be considered a normal part of growth and development. These early tantrums are simply an infant's attempt to communicate feelings of dissatisfaction or extreme disappointment. Observed behaviors in infants trying to express their anger or frustration usually include patently angry-sounding crying, kicking hands and feet, and possibly even trying to strike out. For toddlers, such violent outbursts of temper often include hitting, kicking, and biting others; and possibly self-injurious behaviors such as head-banging. The child's reaction to the supposed cause of the tantrum is often markedly disproportionate to the precipitating incident. An example would be the child who is told that he or she cannot have a lollipop and then proceeds to violently attack the mother, hitting and kicking her, while screaming as loudly as possible.

Acting out conduct can include any highly emotional, disruptive, and unacceptable outburst that appears to be the child's reaction to unmet needs or wishes. A primary reason for such emotional lack of control in a child, especially above the age of three or four, is having not learned how to cope with their own frustration. Such temper tantrums usually peak between the ages of two and three. Because under normal circumstances the child has learned the necessary lessons in how to deal with disappointment by the time he or she has reached the age of four, there is then a noticeable decrease in this sort of acting out behavior.

Preschool and school age children

When no medical or psychological determination is discovered for acting out behaviors in young children above the age of four, the assumption can be made that the temper tantrums are a learned behavior. Toddlers and preschool children very rapidly learn the effectiveness of such acting out. If parents or other caregivers acquiesce to the child's wishes each time to avoid the occurrence of a tantrum, it quickly becomes obvious to the child that this is the most successful means of getting his or her wishes fulfilled. Acting out quickly becomes a time-honored response to the word "No."

More critical negative behaviors including aggressive or abusive actions toward other children, animals, adults, or even themselves are usually a more serious and longer-lasting form of acting out. These are usually related to more momentous causes including mental illness or pathological conditions in the child's life, either in the home or in some other facet of the child's environment. Such negative childhood conduct is often seen in children who have been the victims of physical and/or sexual abuse or of severe neglect. Such acting out for this group of children is often referred to among mental health professionals as "a cry for help." Though certainly significant problems, acting out in the form of various rebellious behaviors that are not self-injurious or life-threatening is considered the less serious form of this "cry for help." These actions include disobeying parents and teachers, non-life-threatening alcohol or drug use, promiscuity, and exercising poor judgment in relationships and activities.

Common problems

High-profile crimes such as the Columbine High School shootings have made most people much more acutely aware of the potential danger involved in young people acting out in a highly antisocial manner. In 2000, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) began to study child and adolescent violence in the United States. One of NIMH's initial findings indicates that though youth violence is indeed a serious problem, events such as Columbine are a rare occurrence. On average across the United States, every day six to seven young people are murdered by their peers. The overwhelming majority of these homicides occur within the confines of inner cities, and the average victim is a member of a minority group. These teenagers' deaths for the most part do not occur on school grounds. Moreover, many factors other than those that cause acting out may contribute to these crimes.

The NIMH found in its research that causes for serious acting out include the following:

• weak bonding with parents, caused by parents being physically or emotionally unavailable to the child
• impotent parenting as manifested by failing to watch over children, by being excessively strict, or by providing harsh and inconsistent discipline
• a home environment that exposes children to violence and supports and models aggressive and violent behaviors
• the impact of rejection by or competition with peers in early school years (In some cases this experience results in children who do not succeed socially or academically banding together to act out. This tendency to band together appeared to be true of the Columbine High School perpetrators.)
• gender (From approximately the age of four years, boys were found by the NIMH study to be more likely than girls to engage in aggressive, acting out behaviors.)
• child psychopathology (The NIMH study suggests that children with behavioral difficulties are likely to have two or more psychological problems such as conduct or anxiety disorders or depression.)
• lower socioeconomic status (A correlation between low family income and antisocial acting out has been repeatedly noted.)
• heredity (Perhaps the most surprising factor of the NIMH study has been the possibility that genes may indeed influence behaviors. Exactly how genetics affects personality and mental illness is not clearly understood. How the environment interacts with this genetic component also remains a mystery. However, in 2004 this genetic ingredient in acting out behaviors was a topic of study for the NIMH.)

A 2001 Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) study published in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education attempted to look at means of predicting which preschool children would be more apt to act out or experience academic or social difficulties in school. The study entitled "Solitary-Active Play Behavior: A Marker Variable for Maladjustment in the Preschool?" concluded that young children who play alone in a very active and boisterous manner were more likely to have adjustment problems in school.

Problems identified for this group of children include the following:

• exhibiting a lower attention span
• being more difficult to comfort
• being more timid and bashful
• showing more aggression and acting out
• doing poorer on academic testing for early skills
• showing a less positive response to being in school
• showing less ability to form positive relationships with other children

The Carleton study asserted two points: first, their research gave no evidence that these children had less learning ability than other children, but rather that they simply experienced problems with adjusting to school; second, it is normal for preschool age children to engage in solitary play. However it is the mode in which a child plays alone—in an overly boisterous, hyperactive manner—that seems to provide the marker for potential acting out problems later. The Canadian researchers undertook this study not to merely identify future acting out children, but to find those children who could benefit from specialized and comprehensive educational programs that address both academic and social needs.