Behavioural Symptoms in the Community

Abstract

The prevalence of behavioural symptoms amongst a sample of 380 children of 15 years and under, is described. 24% of children had behavioural symptoms, as defined by the subjective responses of parents to a structured questionnaire at home interviews. The frequency of behavioural symptoms was correlated with a number of personal and environmental variables, of which long stays in hospital, not being looked after by a parent, and a high neuroticism score for the parent or responsible adult, were the main predictors for the presence of behavioural symptoms in children.