Cultivating PATs: A Guide for Parents and Teachers in understanding and nurturing Positive Automatic Thoughts in Children

There’s a tiny bit more to it than just thinking happy thoughts

When you think about your day ahead or your upcoming schedule, what thoughts come into your head? And consequently, how do they make you feel?

On average, humans have around 60,000 thoughts per day, most of which are automatic and can be positive or negative. Hopefully, the little activity I opened up led you to one of these positive or negative automatic thoughts, an aspect of “thought behaviour” not many consider. That is until you happened across this blog post, of course.

Together, let's explore the human behaviour of positive automatic thoughts and see how we, parents, educators, and those with an innocent passing curiosity, can foster a positive mental habit for children by helping them develop healthier automatic thoughts.

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What are Positive Automatic Thoughts (PATs)

Automatic thoughts are instantaneous and subconscious reactions to stimuli, often shaped by past experiences and emotions. Two common ways these reactions can be portrayed are positive and negative. Positive automatic thoughts can often lead to a healthier outlook, whereas negative automatic thoughts can undermine self-esteem and reinforce a lack of confidence. Therefore, both thought types can be considered complete and separate outlooks on what would otherwise be “neutral” stimuli depending wholly on the person holding them.

For example:

Positive Automatic Thought: “Maths test!? Ok, I can figure this out, I’m usually good with numbers!”

Negative Automatic Thought: “Maths test!? Oh no, I always fail at these!”

The math test is just a math test, the way the child perceives their ability, can make all the difference.

Why Are Positive Automatic Thoughts Important for Children?

Positive automatic thoughts provide children with a foundation for emotional well-being, academic success, and healthy social relationships. By cultivating these thoughts early, parents and teachers can equip children with lifelong tools for navigating challenges and building self-confidence. There are many documented benefits of nurturing PATs in children. For example:-

• Impact on Academic Performance: Children with positive thoughts are more likely to engage with their studies, overcome challenges, and persist in facing difficulties.

• Emotional Resilience: Positive automatic thoughts help children develop emotional resilience, allowing them to cope with stress, setbacks, and negative feedback.

• Long-Term Benefits: Children who internalise positive thinking are more likely to grow into confident, optimistic adults who handle challenges with grace and perseverance

• Better stress management: Positive thoughts act as a buffer against stress. Children who automatically think positively about challenging situations are better able to manage anxiety, frustration, or sadness. Instead of catastrophising or assuming the worst, they focus on solutions and maintain a sense of control, which reduces stress and improves emotional regulation.

• Healthier social interactions: Children with positive automatic thoughts tend to have better relationships with peers. Their optimistic view of the world and themselves often leads to more positive interactions, as they are more likely to approach others with warmth and confidence. These positive social interactions can contribute to a strong support network, reducing feelings of loneliness or social isolation.

• Stronger coping skills: Positive automatic thoughts contribute to better coping skills. Children who think positively are more likely to engage in adaptive coping strategies like seeking support, brainstorming solutions, or engaging in healthy activities when faced with difficulties. This proactive approach to problems helps them feel more empowered and in control of their circumstances.

Strategies on how adults can encourage positive automatic thoughts in children

While the “automatic” part is out of our control, we can help children to develop healthy habits where more positive than negative thoughts arise. In addition, a very healthy life skill of re-tuning our negative thoughts into positive ones can also be developed. Below are some practical strategies for parents, carers and educators to help children recognise and reframe negative thoughts into positive ones:-

• Model Positive Thinking: Adults should model a positive outlook on dealing with challenges and setbacks from their own lives and experiences. For example, they should say, "I made a mistake, but I can learn from this," in front of children.

• Encourage Self-Affirmation: Teach children to replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations, such as "I am smart and capable" or "I can improve with practice."

• Identify common triggers for negative thoughts in your child. Once these have been identified, coping mechanisms and “if-then” plans can be developed and practised to reduce the impact and frequency of negative thoughts.

• Help children to believe in their positive thoughts: It's not enough to just think positive thoughts; it's also important to believe in them. Please help your child identify and address any underlying beliefs or thoughts that might be getting in the way of their positive thinking.

• Help children understand the difference between thoughts and facts: If your child thinks they “always” fail at something, provide them with examples of when they haven’t. Sometimes, the examples might be linked adjacently rather than directly, i.e. “You might have failed that maths test, but you did really well in counting the apples we bought at Tesco”.

• Out-of-class interventions, such as cognitive behavioural approach-based activities with a trusted adult (e.g., teaching assistant, Emotional Literacy Support Assistant), will be very useful for developing this new habit safely and effectively.

• Help children to develop specific strategies for cultivating more positive automatic thoughts. This could involve:-

  • Keeping a gratitude journal. (this doesn’t just have to be writing, drawing, arts and crafts work great too)

  • Practicing mindfulness

  • Engaging in activities that bring joy and meaning

  • Surround themselves with positive people.

Addressing common challenges

Helping children cultivate new attitudes involves a number of common challenges. Below are some vital considerations.

·         Negative Thought Habits: Some children may have developed chronic negative thought patterns due to past experiences. Offer suggestions for breaking these cycles through consistent positive reinforcement and patience.

·         External Factors: Acknowledge external factors like peer pressure, academic stress, or family dynamics that may influence a child’s thought patterns. Suggest strategies for addressing these, such as creating a supportive home or school environment where as many people as possible are doing the exact same strategies or attitudes that you’re asking of the child.

·         Pay attention to the types of positive thoughts you encourage: When children think positive thoughts, they often think about their social connections, leisure activities, and things they enjoy and their impact on them. Focusing on these areas can boost well-being better than just generic advice to “think positively”.

·         Recognise that the strength of your positive thoughts matters. One study found that people with more positive automatic thoughts actually had a bigger shift towards a negative mood. This might sound strange, but it suggests that it's not enough to just think positive thoughts; it's also important to believe in them. If you have a positive thought but don't really believe it, it might not have the desired effect on your mood. Get your child to scream their PATs from the proverbial rooftops!! Don’t just say it with your mouth; say it with your gut and really believe it!

·         Consider how often and how easily positive thoughts come. Further research emphasises the importance of not only how often you think positive thoughts, but also how automatically they come to mind. If positive thoughts come to mind effortlessly, they likely have a stronger impact on your well-being. Therefore praise consistently, genuinely and profusely when children begin to automatically reach for the positive thoughts without prompting, in order to develop a healthy habit.

·         And lastly, but most importantly, Practice makes perfect. The more you practice thinking positive thoughts, the easier and more automatic it will become. This is where the concept of "mental habits" comes in. Just like you can develop healthy habits with your behavior, you can also develop healthy habits with your thinking.

“The more you practice thinking positive thoughts, the easier and more automatic it will become. Just like you can develop healthy habits with your behavior, you can also develop healthy habits with your thinking.”

Conclusion

And there you have it. we’ve just explored the importance of helping children develop positive automatic thoughts, the benefits it can bring to their emotional well-being and academic success as well as practical strategies to facilitate this development. Time, patience and effort is the key here, incorporate these strategies and thinking into your daily interactions and before you know it, you’ve developed your own resilient, confident and happy little PAT. Speaking of which…

Introducing Penelope Alba Thompson (PAT for short)

Meet Penelope! our loveable, French-speaking, resident pocket-rocket of sunshine, happiness and positivity! direct from rainy Edinburgh, Scotland. Penelope by birth name, she also goes by the lovable moniker PAT. A 30-something primary school teacher, PAT loves helping out her friends, solving problems and, oddly enough, dipping her French fries in milkshake and Mcflurries whenever she goes to Mcdonald's. Never one to back down from a challenge, her constant positivity is often mistaken for naivety which couldn’t be further from the truth for PAT. Although that’s not to say the odd joke/punchline hasn’t flown over her head more than a few times.

Look out for Penelope on publications from Emerald Bridges CPAS as she helps to brighten up tips, tricks and advice from Under the Emerald Bridge. If you do see her, give her a like! Each one she gets is another penny towards her weekly treat of Wispa Mcflurry – “mmmm, yum! C’est super!”

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References

• Burns, D. D. (1980). Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. New York: New American Library.

• Meichenbaum, D. (2017). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Basics and Beyond. The Guilford Press.

• Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House.

• Greenberg, L. S., & Safran, J. D. (2014). Emotion in Psychotherapy: A Practitioner's Guide. The Guilford Press.

• Godley, J., Tchanturia, K., & Schmidt, U. (2001). Future‐directed thinking in eating disorders. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39(4), 389–402

• Scherrer, M. C., Dobson, K. S., & Quigley, L. (2014). Predictors of self‐reported negative mood change following a depressive mood induction procedure. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53(4), 351–368.

• Colvin, E. (2023). How Automatic Are Automatic Thoughts? Exploring the Role of Positive and Negative Mental Habits in Well-Being [Doctoral dissertation, University of Ottawa]

• Artwork for Penelope Alba Thompson (PAT) commissioned from Lucy @shineunhye, a freelance illustrator available on Fiverr.com

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