E for Excessive Reassurance Seeking: Positive Behaviour Support

It is normal for all children to seek reassurance from time to time to alleviate worry, doubt, or fear. However, for some children, this is not enough. Some children seek the same answers, explanations, and reassurances over and over again, and it can become excessive for the adults around them.

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Excessive reassurance seeking for a variety of reasons, is common in children with depression and anxiety, including general anxiety, health anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The need for reassurance and the answering of previously asked questions can become a never-ending cycle. Repeating the information only relieves the child’s fear, worry, and unease momentarily, but as soon as the reassurance has been given, the anxiety returns. This happens because when the child feels anxious (e.g., ‘What if mum doesn’t come to pick me up?’), they seek safety through reassurance, which makes them feel better. This bolsters their belief that if they hadn’t sought reassurance from an adult immediately, their anxiety may have increased, and the feared consequence may have happened. Thus, the behaviour is reinforced, and the child requires more and more reassurance over time.

Based on the evidence-based approach of Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), E for Excessive reassurance seeking is a step-by-step guide that will help you develop a comprehensive PBS plan step-by-step. You will learn how to do the following:

1. Determine why your child is excessively seeking reassurances (assess),
2. Respond appropriately when your child seeks reassurances excessively (manage,) and
3. Prevent them from seeking reassurances excessively (prevent).

Use the practical tools (checklists, forms, and strategies) provided to develop comprehensive PBS plans that can be used to support children of all ages consistently in all contexts. This invaluable resource is useful for parents, caregivers, childcare educators, primary and secondary educators, supervisory, allied health professionals, and mental health professionals.

Download Accompanying Forms Resource