Prevealence of behavioral and emotional problems among seven to eleven year old children in selected schools in Kandy district, Sri Lanka
Loading...
Date
2014
Authors
Ginige, P.
Tennakoon, S. U. B.
Wijesinghe, W. H. M. K. J.
Liyanage, L.
Herath, P. S. D.
Bandara, K.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsivier
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
Description
Keywords
Community medicine , Psychiatric disorders , Emotional problems , Behavioural problems
Citation
Journal of Affective Disorders Vol. 167, 2014, pp. 167-170