Behaviour disorders among urban schoolboys in south-western Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Behaviour disorders among 305 schoolboys aged 8-12 years in Abha were assessed using the children's behaviour questionnaire developed by Rutter. The frequency of behaviour disorders was 13.4%. Children's parents were interviewed to obtain social and demographic information about the family. Behaviour disorder was associated with family size, crowding index, parents' education, birth order, parental death and social class. When multiple regression analysis was applied, these factors jointly contributed 12.8% of the variance in total behaviour score. However, mother's illiteracy was the only significant predictor of maladjusted children [P = 0.02]. Poor academic performance of children was strongly associated with behaviour disorder