A Study of Behavioural and Emotional Problems in Irish Primary School Children

Abstract

Teacher and parent questionnaires, individual assessments of children by psychological tests and parental interviews were employed to collect data on a sample of 9- to 10-year-old children (n = 733) in the third class of primary schools in Ireland. As a result of parental interviews 10% of children were classified as maladjusted and a further 24% were found to be unsettled or unhappy. The sample as a whole displayed a slight degree of retardation in educational achievement tests. The psychological test data which related most to maladjustment were the Emotional Indicator scores from two drawing tests. Scores on ability tests were not strongly related to maladjustment. A considerable number of teachers and parents reported that their child showed symptoms of overactivity at home and at school. Most parents admitted that they felt some concern because of their child’s behaviour. The results of this study were similar to those of previous studies carried out in other European countries, except that the Irish figures for anxiousness in children were slightly elevated. Acting-out behaviour was at a lower level in the present sample than in many others. Irish boys seemed to be less troublesome than those in other countries. In other studies, boys usually exceed girls in the number identified as Index cases by parent and teacher questionnaires, whereas in this one there was no difference between them.