Prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems among seven to eleven year old children in selected schools in Kandy District, Sri Lanka

Abstract Background Behavioral and emotional problems comprising internalizing, externalizing and mixed disorders consist of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescents. Prevalence rates of 8.3% for preschoolers, 12.2% for preadolescents and 15.0% for adolescents have been reported from aroun...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of affective disorders 2014-10, Vol.167, p.167-170
Main Authors: Ginige, P, Tennakoon, S.U.B, Wijesinghe, W.H.M.K.J, Liyanage, L, Herath, P.S.D, Bandara, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Behavioral problems
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child Behavior
Child Behavior Disorders - epidemiology
Child Behavior Disorders - psychology
Child, Preschool
Childhood
Emotional problems
Emotions
Externalizing
Female
Humans
Internalizing
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders - epidemiology
Mood disorders
Prevalence
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Residence Characteristics
Schools - statistics & numerical data
Sri Lanka - epidemiology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Background Behavioral and emotional problems comprising internalizing, externalizing and mixed disorders consist of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescents. Prevalence rates of 8.3% for preschoolers, 12.2% for preadolescents and 15.0% for adolescents have been reported from around the world. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of emotional and behavioral disorders in 7–11 year-old school children studying in Kandy District Sri Lanka which was a first for the geographic area. Method This was a community based study at the primary section of the selected schools. The questionnaire, Child behavior Checklist-Sinhala (CBCL-S) was administered in a group setting to the main caregiver of 562 subjects selected randomly. The questionnaire identified problems in 8 subscales under three main sub categories : internalizing, externalizing and other. Data were analyzed using The Syndrome Scales for Boys and Girls developed for analyzing the questionnaire CBCL. Results Indicated a prevalence of 13.8% of emotional and behavioral problems in the study population. 8.8% of children showed internalizing problems and 8.8% externalizing problems. These findings are in line with the prevailing rates from previous studies of the world. Children in school types 1AB and 1C had less emotional and behavioral problems compared to type 2 and 3 schools. Limitations Only 20 schools in KEZ and Sinhala speaking population of the Kandy were studied. Conclusions This study showed the extent of childhood emotional and behavioral problems and also confirms that the schools with advanced level classes have lesser problems amongst primary children.
ISSN:0165-0327
1573-2517
DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2014.05.062