Behavior Resources
Behavior tips and resources selected by Cook Children's staff for your family. These will help guide your child with patience and care.
What is behavioral health?
Behavioral health is medical care that helps manage emotions and behavior. Doctors who work in behavioral health are psychologists and psychiatrists.
Important behavior topics for families
- Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and ADHD | ADDitude Magazine
- Quick facts on disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) | Child Mind Institute
- Quick guide for disruptive modd dysregulation disorder | Child Mind Institute
- Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder | National Institute of Mental Health
- Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Oppositional defiant disorder factsheet (for schools) | Cook Children's
- Quick guide to oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) | Child Mind Institute
- What is ODD (oppositional defiant disorder)? | Child Mind Institute
- Facts for families of children with oppositional defiant disorder | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Oppositional defiant disorder | MedlinePlus
- Quick guide to conduct disorder | Child Mind Institute
- Quick facts on conduct disorder | Child Mind Institute
- What is conduct disorder? | Child Mind Institute
- Conduct disorder | MedlinePlus
- Facts for families dealing with conduct disorder | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Breath-holding spells (for parents) | Cook Children's
- Taming tempers (for parents) | Cook Children's
- Teaching your child self control | Cook Children's
- Temper tantrums (for parents) | Cook Children's
- Angry kids: dealing with explosive behavior | Child Mind Institute
- Temper tantrums | MedlinePlus
- Overview: Trust based relational intervention (TBRI) | Cook Children's
- Descripción general: Intervención Relacional Basada en la Confianza | Cook Children's
- The empowering principles: Trust based relational intervention | Cook Children's
- Los principios de empoderamiento: Intervención Relacional Basada en la Confianza | Cook Children's
- Connecting principles: Trust based relational intervention | Cook Children's
- Los principios de conexión: Intervención Relacional Basada en la Confianza | Cook Children's
- Correcting principles: Trust based relational intervention | Cook Children's
- Los principios de corrección: Intervención Relacional Basada en la Confianza | Cook Children's
- My friend is talking about running away: What should I do? (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Running away (for kids) | Cook Children's
- Why kids lie | Child Mind Institute
- When you should get help for a child who is a habitual liar | Child Mind Institute
- Facts for families: Children and lying | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Teaching kids not to bully | Cook Children's
- Helping kids deal with bullies | Cook Children's
- Dealing with bullying (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Dealing with bullies (for kids) | Cook Children's
- How to spot and stop bullying | Cook Children's
- Cyberbullying (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Sexual harassment and sexual bullying (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Advice on dealing with bullies, how to spot a bully | Cook Children's
- Bullying, social media and video game addiction with Dr. Elliott | Cook Children's (Raising Joy podcast)
- How to arm your child against bullying | Child Mind Institute
- How to know if your child is being bullied | Child Mind Institute
- Help kids deal with cyberbullying | Child Mind Institute
- Bullying | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Facts for families: Fighting and biting | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent
- Facts for families: Bullying | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent
- Hair pulling (Trichotillomania) | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- What to do if your child is bullying | Child Mind Institute
- Understanding violent behavior in children and adolescents | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Threats by children: When are they serious? | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Online safety (for parents) | Cook Children's
- Online safety (for kids) | Cook Children's
- Online safety (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Monitoring your child's media use | Cook Children's
- Teaching your kids to be smart about social media | Cook Children's
- Sexting: What parents need to know | Cook Children's
- Protecting your online identity and reputation (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Promoting positive body image | Cook Children's
- The impact and dangers of social media on youth mental health | Cook Children's
- Is internet addiction real? | Child Mind Institute
- Facts for families: Children online | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Facts for families: Social media and teens | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Kids and video games (for parents) | Cook Children's
- Are video games bad for me? (for kids) | Cook Children's
- Healthy limits on video games | Child Mind Institute
- Facts for families: Children and video games with violence | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Screen time and children | MedlinePlus
- Tips for setting screen time limits | MedlinePlus
Understanding teens with Sam McCage | Cook Children's (Raising Joy podcast)
- Answering questions about sex | Cook Children's
- Talking to your kids about STDs | Cook Children's
- Talking to your kids about sex | Child Mind Institute
- How to talk to kids about sex and consent | Child Mind Institute
- Why you should have frank sex talks with teens | Child Mind Institute
- Help! There’s a Toddler in the House! by Thomas M. Reimers, Ph.D. (for parents of kids aged 2-6yo)
- Common Sense Parenting of Toddlers and Preschoolers by Bridget Barnes (for parents of kids aged 2-5yo)
- The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child. By Alan E. Kazdin. He also has a free online course with video lectures at https://www.coursera.org/learn/everyday-parenting. When you enter the course, it states that it takes 21 hours to complete. That is for people who want to earn a course certificate and complete additional readings and quizzes. You can simply enroll and click on the applicable videos that you want to watch.
- Your Defiant Child by Russell A. Barkley and Christine Benton (for parents of kids aged 5-12)
- The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene
Need help finding information?
Finding health information you can trust can be confusing and overwhelming. Let us help. A Cook Children's librarian can send you up to date information from reliable sources.
Additional resources for families
Raising Joy podcast
We encourage you to subscribe to our Raising Joy podcast, which aims to encourage hope and resilience among children and teens. Available on the following networks:
Behavioral health services
Our licensed experts provide psychology and psychiatry services for families whose children and adolescents, ages 2 to 18, are experiencing behavioral, neurodevelopmental and emotional challenges.