Attention Seeking Behavior

ATTENTION-SEEKING BEHAVIOR

I. PERSONAL DATA
NAME:
NICKNAME: Hans
SEX: male
AGE: 9 y/o
ADDRESS:
FATHER:
MOTHER:
SCHOOL:
II. CHILD BEHAVIOR:

Many parents and teachers after experienced that inward sigh when the children or the students seem to seek more attention beyond of the normal level. Attention seeking behavior may appear as a child being goofy to make others laugh or constantly requesting someone to play with them. It can also be in the form of self injury or aggressive behavior in children. Even though the attention may be considered negative (ie. scolding from caregiver), it can still be very reinforcing for a child wanting to get attention no matter what that requires.

The child (Hans) catches the attention of his parents or peers to gain attention. He will do something annoying that will catches the attention of those people surrounds him like licking his nose, banging his head on the wall, aggravating others around him by pulling their hats off at home time, poking them or leaning on them during quiet times. He enjoys showing adults and peers his “sore knees” or “spots” or “bleeding nose” to gain sympathy from them.

This child constantly does things to get your attention and it can become quite annoying. They will blurt out and tell you what they did etc. Their desire for attention is almost insatiable. Much of what they do is done to get attention. It doesn't seem to matter that you provide lots of attention as they continually seek more.

III. SYMPTOMS OF BEHAVIOR: ❖ Aggravating others (children, friends, classmates, schoolmates even family members) ❖ Blurts out answers before questions have been completed ❖ Difficulty awaiting turn ❖ Interrupts or intrudes on others (butts into conversations or games) ❖ Doing something annoying that will catches the attention of people surrounds him/her. ❖ Hyperactivity ❖ Attention seeking behavior ❖ Lacks empathy ❖ Illusions ❖ Disregard for others
IV. ASSESSMENTS:

Schedule special time together:

One way to ensure your child is getting the attention he or she desires is to make sure to schedule a specific time that you spend one on one with your child for at least 15-30 minutes a day, but preferably longer. Some days may be longer and others only 15 minutes, but what’s important is that your he/she knows this is your special time together.
Let your child (him/her) know this is his or her special time and allow your child to choose what activity you will do or what you will talk about.
Avoid any negative conversation or “You should do this or that” types of conversation.
Remind him of your special time together when he engages in his typical seeking types of behavior. Then, state that you need to finish what you are doing, but you promise to be able to do what they are asking during your special designated time.
Always follow through on this or your child will learn that you are not good on your word.

Approach your child every 10-15 minutes:

If he is really demanding, try your best to approach your child every 10-15 minutes along with scheduling a special time during the day.
Give frequent words of encouragement and physical affection (Ex. "Wow, that is an awesome picture you are drawing!" with a pat on the back).
If you have something you need to get done, help him/her to start an activity by also engaging in the activity for at least 5-10 minutes. Once he/she begins to play well, state you will be back in a few minutes.
Come back in 5 minutes and give the words of encouragement with some physical affection. Then leave again for 5-10 minutes depending on what he/she will tolerate before attempting to engage in attention seeking behavior.
Continue doing this back and forth gradually increasing the time between visits while doing as much as you can to get things done. It may help to have him/her near you, such as at the kitchen table doing an activity while you are trying to make dinner.

Involve your child in what you are doing:

In addition to the above techniques, if your child just seems to be seeking you all the time and requires your attention so much that you are unable to get things done within the 10 minutes, involve him/her in the job you are working on.
If this involves dinner, allow them to help in any way possible. For laundry, let them load the washer, switch the loads, pour in soap, etc.
Usually, he/she will either be excited to be involved or start seeking other activities that can be done alone without needing your attention as an alternative to helping with the chore.
Of course, there are exceptions to this rule depending on your specific situation and if he or she engages in attention seeking behavior and has a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD NOS)

What is most important is that you provide so much attention on a regular basis that he or she will not need to engage in attention seeking behavior as a method to get your attention.
V. RISK FACTORS AND MAINTANING VARIABLES:
A factor analysis of some attention- seeking behaviors of young children

Though knowledge of the process underlying young children’s behavior their general social interaction with both adults and peers, very little is known either about the dimensionality of their attention-seeking or about its antecedents. In the study herein reported an attempt is made to gain some leverage on the dimensionality of the behavior classes employed for attention by young children through a factor analysis of the correlations among nine items of behavior judged to be consonant with the characteristics generally attributed to attention-seeking and age.

Behavior for the reinforcer provided by the attention of people (attention-seeking) has usually been defined as falling under the more broadly defined concept “emotional dependence” along with such behaviors as those employed for approval, praise, physical contact and caresses, reassurance and nearness. While the clinical literature is replete with case histories, mostly based on informal observation in children and adults with adjustment problems, which are described and interpreted in terms of such behavior concepts, the research literature reveals that few systematic attempts have been to study the dimensionality of either emotional dependence or attention-seeking or to determine their antecedents. Typically, relationships involving emotional dependence and attention-seeking in children have been found as by-products of general studies which addressed themselves to the consequences in children’s behavior of broadly defined family attitudes or conditions of socialization, such as overprotection, deprivation, or rejection.

In order to further a systematic experimental investigation of the behaviors employed for attention and the antecedents of those behaviors, an experiment was conducted on young children, which employed situation easel paint as long as he wished in the presence of an adult.
VI.DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS
VII.TREATMENT
Here are some ways to prevent child’s attention-seeking behavior: ❖ Promote self-esteem and confidence every chance you can. Catch your child doing something great and praise him/her. ❖ Provide opportunities for the child to become responsible. When they take responsibility well, let him/her know. ❖ Always be objective and understanding - do not lose your patience even though you are tempted to. ❖ Use your best judgment at all times, remain objective and seek to understand. ❖ Patience, patience, patience! Even though you may be very frustrated.

Communicate your expectations with a minimal number of rules and routines to be followed. Think big, start small. ❖ Involve the child when you are establishing rules and routines. Ask for his/her assistance. Make sure they repeat them - this will help them remember. ❖ Emphasize the child's strengths and minimize the weaknesses. ❖ Set your child up to be successful when the opportunity presents itself. ❖ Provide opportunities for the child to reiterate expectations. For example: "What always needs to be done before bed?" ❖ Encourage the child to participate and monitor their own behavior. For example: "What is terrific about what you're doing right now?" ❖ AVOID power struggles - nobody wins! ❖ Take time to discuss appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. This should be done when a chilling out period has occurred. ❖ Routines - children with behavior difficulties benefit from clearly established routines/structure, I can't say enough about this. ❖ Role-play some situations based on unacceptable behaviors and discuss them. ❖ Set up practice situations and role play those. For example: Tommy just came and stepped on your toe, you even thought he did it intentionally. How will you handle this situation? ❖ Teach the skills necessary for appropriate behaviors.

Following the “crying baby” model for filling the need as soon as it arises, all Attention Seeking Behavior Disorders can be entirely avoided as well as cured by giving focused attention immediately and as soon as the request has been received.
This does not mean one has to put one’s entire life on hold or “run rings around the creature” – it is literally a simple little flash of attention at the right time and when first asked for it; the classic “a stitch in time saves nine” principle.
Rather than “rewarding” attention seeking behavior, it never gets to escalate, the creature’s energy system remains balanced and the disturbed behavior never need take place at all.
As the babies who are fed when they are hungry cry markedly less or not at all, creatures who receive attention energy (or love or recognition energy) when they ask for it, their attention seeking behaviors become markedly less frequent, markedly less dramatic and may cease altogether once the system has been in operation for a while and the creature has understood that not only can it get what it needs just the for the asking, but also its energy system has become more robust, more healthy, more resilient and won’t collapse when there is a time when attention is in short supply.
Let us now look at how to apply this theory in practice when treating severely disturbed forms of animal behaviour, and including trance and repetitive behaviour problems. VIII. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. How will the parents do to avoid tress from their children that is/are having an attention- seeking problem? 2. What are the causes of attention-seeking behavior in children? 3. How to assess attention-seeking child/children?