Behavioral and emotional problems and related risk factors of primary school children aged 6–11 in Guangdong, China

Background

China has seen rapid urbanization and industrialization in recent decades and children behavioral and emotional problems accompanied have been a heavy burden on family and society. We therefore aimed to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of behavioral and emotional problems in primary school children aged 6–11 in an urbanized area of China.

Methods

Primary school children aged 6–11 from 15 primary schools were enrolled from Shunde District, Guangdong. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess behavioral and emotional problems and then determined risk factors associated with the behavioral and emotional problems.

Results

In total, 12 868 were included in the present analysis. The prevalence of total behavioral and emotional problems was 8.4% (95% CI, 7.9%–8.9%), which was gradually increased with age in both boys and girls. The prevalence was higher in boys than girls (9.8% vs. 6.8%, p < .001) and in children without siblings than those with siblings (9.9% vs. 8.1%, p = .006). In boys, age was positively associated with delinquent behavior, depression, poor contact, compulsive activity, social withdrawal, attention problems and aggressive behavior and was negatively associated with schizoid (p < .05). While in girls, age was positively associated with delinquent behavior, somatic complaints, social withdrawal and schizoid/compulsive activity but was negatively associated with aggressive behavior and sexual problems (p < .05).

Conclusion

Behavioral and emotional problems are common in primary school children in the urbanized area of China and are associated with sex and siblings. These findings suggest that close attention should be given to these primary school children.