Treating young children’s disruptive behavior problems. Dissemination of an evidence-based training program in the Netherlands

The majority of young children lose their temper or become frustrated when they don’t get what they want. Also, children can have an angry or irritable mood, or hit other children. These behaviors are part of their typical development and it has been found that children who do not initiate physical aggression before the age of 3 are extremely rare (Tremblay, 2010). Developmental studies have shown that aggressive behavior in children peaks between 2 and 3 years of age and that boys show this behavior more frequently than girls (Alink et al., 2006). After this age, most children learn to use alternative behaviors before school entry (Tremblay et al., 2004). However, a small group (7% to 11%) of both boys and girls show notably more externalizing behavior problems than their peers throughout childhood (Broidy et al., 2003; Tremblay, 2010). For these children, the stability of their behavior is high, and if left untreated, the behavior can worsen over time (Bongers, Koot, Van der Ende, & Verhulst, 2004; Nock, Kazdin, Hiripi, & Kessler, 2007).