Psychiatry and Society

Almost half of all couples divorcing have a child under the age of 16 years. Parental separation results in a major upheaval in the life of a child. Apart from the loss created by the absence of one parent, there are usually major changes in living conditions, home, neighbourhood and school. Added to this are the psychological hazards of insecurity, loss of trust, anxiety, guilt and fear. Psychological impact of divorce on the child The psychological impact of divorce on the child is a complex issue. Several factors such as the manner in which the parents separated; the age and maturity of the child, socio-economic factors and support of family members determine the effect of the separation on the child. Emotional and behavioural problems in children have been found to occur more often when the separation has been hostile and accompanied by much unpleasantness. A little sensitivity, a great deal of love and understanding and reassurance goes a long way in preventing emotional and ...

Aggression is uncommon in school children and should be addressed A Pune teenager was kidnapped and murdered by his school friends a few weeks ago. The victim was deliberately selected and his parents were manipulated for a ransom. Violence, theft and destructiveness are end stage behaviours of conduct problems in children and adolescents. Trajectories of aggression in children The commonest path of violence in children is ' adolescence-limited ' . The antisocial behaviours usually occur when the adolescents are 'hanging out' in a group.  This type of aggression reflects an anti- authoritarianism . Anti-authoritarianism results from frustration over being denied the benefits of full adult independence despite reaching physical maturity. Adolescent limited aggression is less violent, relies on peer encouragement, and generally diminishes by adulthood  These adolescents are usually able to integrate into society as young adults. A ...

Parental supervision protects boisterous children from injury: More time unsupervised corresponds to more injury  “To my parents we were just two girls in the bedroom” . What exactly was going on? Without adequate supervision the parents of this teenager never found out; the memories returned to haunt her in adulthood. Studies comparing children with and without parental supervision show that lax parental supervision is associated with injury in toddlers and preschoolers; conduct problems in school going children; and road accidents, addictions, gambling and sexual risk taking in teenagers. Parental supervision has three dimensions (Gitanjali 2004) Attention - watching or listening  Proximity - within or beyond reach  Continuity - constant, intermittent, or not at all  Two factors determine the degree to which a child would be left unsupervised (Morrongiello 2008) Parent’s conscientiousness  - the more conscientious the parent more the sup...