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Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Preschool Children in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia: Parent Report Version

The rising prevalence of mental health disorders among children is a serious concern. Young children who exhibit early warning signs of mental health issues are more likely to develop symptoms in the same or overlapping regions years later. The research aimed to identify emotional and behavioural pr...

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Autores principales: Abd Rahim, Mohamad Hazni, Ibrahim, Mohd Ismail, Ab Rahman, Azriani, Yaacob, Najib Majdi, Hashim, Nor Syuhada Farhanis
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10341142/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37444662
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131828
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author Abd Rahim, Mohamad Hazni
Ibrahim, Mohd Ismail
Ab Rahman, Azriani
Yaacob, Najib Majdi
Hashim, Nor Syuhada Farhanis
author_facet Abd Rahim, Mohamad Hazni
Ibrahim, Mohd Ismail
Ab Rahman, Azriani
Yaacob, Najib Majdi
Hashim, Nor Syuhada Farhanis
author_sort Abd Rahim, Mohamad Hazni
collection PubMed
description The rising prevalence of mental health disorders among children is a serious concern. Young children who exhibit early warning signs of mental health issues are more likely to develop symptoms in the same or overlapping regions years later. The research aimed to identify emotional and behavioural problems and associated factors in Malaysian preschools. A sample of young children aged 4–6 years from public and private preschools was chosen using a multistage random sampling method. Data were collected from 18 preschools via a parent survey using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The sample involved 557 children in the SDQ assessment (92%). The overall estimated prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems was 8.4%. Peer problems were the most prevalent attribute, with a percentage of 19.7%. Conduct problems were found in 5.2%, hyperactivity problems in 5.6%, prosocial behaviours in 13.5%, and emotional problems in 6.8%. Girls showed a significant increase in behavioural and emotional problems compared to boys. Having one parent working, having more than two siblings, and having a single-parent family were associated with emotional and behavioural problems. The prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems in Malaysian children was relatively low compared to data from previous studies and other Asian countries but consistent with European studies. Measuring mental health disparities in young children helps stakeholders launch local early intervention programmes.
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spelling pubmed-103411422023-07-14 Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Preschool Children in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia: Parent Report Version Abd Rahim, Mohamad Hazni Ibrahim, Mohd Ismail Ab Rahman, Azriani Yaacob, Najib Majdi Hashim, Nor Syuhada Farhanis Healthcare (Basel) Article The rising prevalence of mental health disorders among children is a serious concern. Young children who exhibit early warning signs of mental health issues are more likely to develop symptoms in the same or overlapping regions years later. The research aimed to identify emotional and behavioural problems and associated factors in Malaysian preschools. A sample of young children aged 4–6 years from public and private preschools was chosen using a multistage random sampling method. Data were collected from 18 preschools via a parent survey using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The sample involved 557 children in the SDQ assessment (92%). The overall estimated prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems was 8.4%. Peer problems were the most prevalent attribute, with a percentage of 19.7%. Conduct problems were found in 5.2%, hyperactivity problems in 5.6%, prosocial behaviours in 13.5%, and emotional problems in 6.8%. Girls showed a significant increase in behavioural and emotional problems compared to boys. Having one parent working, having more than two siblings, and having a single-parent family were associated with emotional and behavioural problems. The prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems in Malaysian children was relatively low compared to data from previous studies and other Asian countries but consistent with European studies. Measuring mental health disparities in young children helps stakeholders launch local early intervention programmes. MDPI 2023-06-22 /pmc/articles/PMC10341142/ /pubmed/37444662 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131828 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Abd Rahim, Mohamad Hazni
Ibrahim, Mohd Ismail
Ab Rahman, Azriani
Yaacob, Najib Majdi
Hashim, Nor Syuhada Farhanis
Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Preschool Children in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia: Parent Report Version
title Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Preschool Children in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia: Parent Report Version
title_full Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Preschool Children in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia: Parent Report Version
title_fullStr Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Preschool Children in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia: Parent Report Version
title_full_unstemmed Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Preschool Children in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia: Parent Report Version
title_short Emotional and Behavioural Problems among Preschool Children in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia: Parent Report Version
title_sort emotional and behavioural problems among preschool children in northeast peninsular malaysia: parent report version
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10341142/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37444662
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131828
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