Status of Socio Emotional Behavior among Preschool Children in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Socio-emotional behavior problem is a serious health problem among pre-school children in the world. Bangladesh is no exception of this. Socio-emotional behavior problem has significantly negative impact at individual, familial and society level. There is a dearth of study regarding socio-emotional behavior among preschool children in Bangladesh. As a consequence, this study attempted to explore the status of socio-emotional behavior among preschool children in Bangladesh. Methodology: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 132 mothers having pre-school going children in the two selected schools in Bagherhat district, Bangladesh. Face to face interview was conducted for data collection by using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using Pearson product correlation, t-test and ANOVA. Results: The findings showed that the average mean of socio-emotional behavior of preschool children was 1.25. The results presented significant positive correlation of child's socio-emotional behavior with mother's age (r= .188, p=0.030), family income (r=.225, p=0.009) and number of siblings (r=.179, p=0.039) respectively. On the other hand, a significant difference of child's socio-emotional behavior with mother’s educational level (F=3.201, p=0.044), mother’s occupation (F=2.792, p=0.043), and sex of the child (t= -2.481, p=0.014) was observed. Conclusion: It can be concluded that preschool children have socio-emotional behavioral problems. Socio-emotional behavior was also significantly associated with demographic characteristics.