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Nurturance, Structure, and Child Externalizing Behaviors: Working with Parents to Support Children and Families

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Mental Health Assessment, Prevention, and Intervention

Part of the book series: The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality ((SSHE))

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Abstract

Utilizing the parenting styles literature and attachment theory (as well as family systems theory and resilience theory) as a guiding framework, this chapter explores familial, or parenting, influences on externalizing behavior and how to intervene using this perspective. There are four major parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and neglectful, which can be placed along two dimensions: responsiveness/warmth and control (Baumrind, Child Development 37:887–907, 1966; Maccoby and Martin, Handbook of Child Psychology, 4:1–101, 1983). Along with attachment theory, which holds that parent-child relationships are key to helping children regulate their emotions and behaviors (Cassidy, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 59:228–249, 1994), my clinical reasoning approach sees children as having two core relational needs: nurturance and structure. Nurturance can be understood as warmth, and includes constructs such as affection and responsiveness (sensitively reacting to a child’s needs); while structure can be understood as the setting of appropriate and firm limits, boundaries, and rules, which are applied consistently and predictably. Consistent with attachment theory, I see externalizing behaviors as a sign of emotional dysregulation. My approach to mental health assessment focuses on gaining a comprehensive understanding of the problem and determining its function (or what need it satisfies). I accomplish these goals through a combination of interviews and parent-child observations, paying special attention to nurturance and structure, as well as the parents’ families of origin and any potential developmental issues in the child. My approach to intervention focuses on working with the parents of children with externalizing behavior problems, who typically benefit from support in one or both of nurturance and structure, including seeing the behavior as a communication. This is often accomplished through building up positive connections and helping parents set firm clear limits. A case study applying these constructs to a family who struggles with both limit-setting and nurturance is provided.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Jen Theule

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  1. Jen Theule
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Correspondence to Jen Theule .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Jac J.W. Andrews

  2. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Steven R. Shaw

  3. Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    José F. Domene

  4. Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Carly McMorris

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Theule, J. (2022). Nurturance, Structure, and Child Externalizing Behaviors: Working with Parents to Support Children and Families. In: Andrews, J.J., Shaw, S.R., Domene, J.F., McMorris, C. (eds) Mental Health Assessment, Prevention, and Intervention. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97208-0_12

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