It’s unclear if the debates will happen with Trump’s quarantine.

If they do, the #Debate2020 moderators could benefit from an evidence-based child #psychiatry approach for disruptive behaviors called Parent Management Training (PMT). A thread 1/6

PMT is an evidence based intervention for young children with disruptive behaviors (interrupting, tantrums, name-calling, etc.). There are some key PMT techniques that may help with the debates. 2/6

One is “active ignoring.” In this technique, parents ignore disruptive behaviors like interrupting and provide praise when the disruptive behavior stops. The child learns that they get more attention and praise when they don’t perform the bad behavior 3/6

Another is “natural & logical consequences.” For instance, if a child breaks a toy, they don’t get a new one. The consequence is natural & logical. If a candidate interrupts another speaker, it is natural & logical for them to lose their own time & for their mic to mute 4/6

In PMT, we reserve “time outs” for particular egregious behavior. For instance, name calling, insults, or stigmatizing mental illness. It would be wise for the moderators to implement this as well. 5/6

PMT is highly effective in changing disruptive behaviors and helps children (or presidential candidates!) maintain self esteem and positive relationships with their parents (and debate moderators!). 6/6

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