Behavior disorders among primary school children associated with some visual problems and socio-demographic factors

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted on 206 primary school children aged from 7to12 years; males were equal to females, N=103 for each sex. It was carried out in both an urban area in Tanta City and part of Kuhafa region as a rural community. It aimed at studying behavior disorders among primary school children and their association with some visual errors and socio-demographic data. All cases in this study had visual errors and were classified into two groups,the first group had only simple refractive errors [from 1/4 to 1/2 diopters] and they were one hundred and ninety six cases while the second group had severe visual disorders and they were only ten cases. Two sheets were used one for the socio-demographic factors and the other for the children behavior questionnaire [CBQ] developed by Rutter [teachers scale]. Out of the total studied sample, 25[12.1%] had behavior disorders. Age groups, sex and birth order were not significantly affecting behavior disorders, yet it was recorded that behavior problems decreased as getting older. Advanced eye problems namely, strabismus [squint], amblyopia and high myopia [10 cases] were significantly associated with behavior disorders. Behavior disorders among the majority of cases with simple refractive errors were significantly recorded among children with low parental education [21.3% were maladjusted children of low paternal education compared to 3.4% with high education and 18.4% were maladjusted children with low maternal education compared to 3.7% with high education, [p<0.05], with non-working mothers [14.2%] were maladjusted children with non working mothers compared to 2.9% with working mothers, [p<0.05], with nuclear family structure and with rural residence [16 were maladjusted rural children and four urban]. Low scholastic achievement was significantly associated with high frequency of behavior disorders among the majority of cases. Advanced visual disorders [10 cases] were the most significant predictor for maladjustment among the studied sample by logistic regression analysis: