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It defines challenging behavior by its effects on optimal learning and pro-social engagement, discusses how culture, mental health, and social-emotional competence shape behavior, and explains pathways for internalizing versus externalizing patterns. The statement emphasizes prevention and intervention through positive, instructive approaches that strengthen children’s social-emotional and communication skills.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/position-statement-on-challenging-behavior-and-young-children-dec-july-2017/583872/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/position-statement-on-challenging-behavior-and-young-children-dec-july-2017/583872.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Connor ","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How does the statement define challenging behavior?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Challenging behavior is defined as any repeated pattern that interferes with, or risks interfering with, a child’s optimal learning or pro-social interactions with peers and adults.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why is early childhood mental health important for understanding challenging behavior?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Mental health is described as developing the capacity to form close relationships, experience and manage emotions, and explore and learn within family and community contexts; in early childhood it is often viewed as closely related to social-emotional competence.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What factors influence young children’s challenging behavior?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The statement highlights development, temperament, environmental factors, and socio-cultural factors, noting that these factors frequently interact and can contribute to internalizing or externalizing behavior patterns.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},583872,1792134529,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},687207022233,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Position Statement on Challenging Behavior and  \n1  \nYoung Children  \nPosition Statement on Challenging Behavior and Young Children  \nDivision for Early Childhood (DEC) July 2017  \nIntroduction ~~ ~~  \nThe early childhood period from birth to age 8 is an exciting one for growth, development, and learning. It is when children begin to develop social-emotional competence, and it is also a time when children’s emerging skills may result in behaviors adults and peers find challenging. It is important that adults who care for and teach young children be prepared to address challenging behavior in positive and instructive ways. Positive approaches to preventing and addressing challenging behavior go beyond only reacting in the moment and instead aim to address the underlying cause of the behavior and teach the child needed social-emotional or communication skills. In this statement, we define “challenging behavior”and “social-emotional competence,”provide a summary of DEC’s position on the identification of and intervention with challenging behavior, and offer recommendations to the early childhood special education and early care and education fields about positive approaches to preventing and addressing challenging behavior. In so doing, DEC reaffirms its commitment to the healthy social-emotional development of all children and provides guidance to professionals and families in preventing and addressing challenging behaviors.  \n“Challenging behavior” is defined as “any repeated pattern of behavior...that interferes with or is at risk of interfering with the child’s optimal learning or engagement in pro-social interactions with peers and adults”(Smith & Fox, 2003, p. 6) . Although there are some behaviors that most or all people can agree are challenging (e.g. , self-injury, physical aggression), there also are several key issues with defining challenging behavior. First, challenging behavior is defined by its effect (or possible effect) . Adults decide (a) what learning and engagement look like in a setting and (b) when a child’s behavior is interfering with learning and engagement. This means that an adult’s own culture, beliefs, and biases, particularly around race and gender, highly influence whether they consider a behavior “challenging”(Gilliam, Maupin, Reyes, Accavitti, & Shic, 2016) . It can also be short-term or ongoing, frequent or infrequent, more or less intense, and internalizing or externalizing. Internalizing challenging behavior is more difficult to observe because it is often directed inward and includes behaviors such as difficulty concentrating, persistent avoidance of activities, social withdrawal, crying, or hiding. Externalizing challenging behavior is directed outward and includes behaviors such as hitting, spitting, property destruction, running away, and screaming (Achenbach, 1978; Eisenberg, Valiente, & Eggum, 2010) . Whatever the form, frequency, duration, or intensity of challenging behavior, it can potentially affect a child’s development, learning, and relationships and can be difficult for families, caregivers, and educators to remedy.  \nWhen defining challenging behavior, it is important to understand how this behavior and early childhood mental health might intersect. Mental health is defined as “the developing capacity of the child…to form close and secure adult and peer relationships; experience, manage, and express a full range of emotions; and explore the environment and learn—all in the context of family, community, and culture” (Zero to Three, 2016) . In early childhood, mental health and social-emotional competence are typically viewed as the same construct (Sheridan, Clarke, & Ihlo, 2015) . Specific skills that all young children should develop include the ability to recognize,  \nexpress, and regulate emotions; identify and solve social problems; and engage in positive interactions with others (Denham, 2006; Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2004; Domitrovich, Cortes, & Greenberg, 2007) . Challenging behavior ofte","cbCailRBIlQ4HtBY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailRBIlQ4HtBY","pdf",4187456,18,"English","# Introduction\n## Defining challenging behavior\n## Challenging behavior and early childhood mental health\n## Influencing factors in early childhood\n## Socio-cultural influences on challenging behavior","[{\"question\":\"How does the statement define challenging behavior?\",\"answer\":\"Challenging behavior is defined as any repeated pattern that interferes with, or risks interfering with, a child’s optimal learning or pro-social interactions with peers and adults.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is early childhood mental health important for understanding challenging behavior?\",\"answer\":\"Mental health is described as developing the capacity to form close relationships, experience and manage emotions, and explore and learn within family and community contexts; in early childhood it is often viewed as closely related to social-emotional competence.\"},{\"question\":\"What factors influence young children’s challenging behavior?\",\"answer\":\"The statement highlights development, temperament, environmental factors, and socio-cultural factors, noting that these factors frequently interact and can contribute to internalizing or externalizing behavior patterns.\"}]","Position Statement on Challenging Behavior and Young Children - DEC July 2017 | PDF",1792048795,45]