Teacher Reports of Emotional and Disruptive Behaviours in Portuguese Children

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency of emotional and disruptive behaviours and the rates of hyperactivity, conduct and emotional problems in school-aged children. The Rutter Children’s Behaviour Questionnaire for completion by teachers was used to assess psychiatric symptoms. A total deviance score is derived from the sum of scores for the individual items (n= 26). An emotional sub-score can be obtained from the sum of scores of four items (worried, miserable, fearful, tears on arrival at school), a conduct sub-score obtained from the sum of scores of six items (destructive, fights, disobedient, lies, steals, bullies) and a hyperactivity sub-score obtained from the sum of scores of three items (restless/overactive, poor concentration, fidgety/squirmy). The sample comprised 877 children (446 girls) with an age range between 6 and 11 years. Compared to girls, boys showed a significantly higher frequency of restless/overactive (15.8% vs. 5.8%), fidgety/squirmy (9.3% vs. 3.6%), fights (6.3% vs. 2.2%), disobedient (6.0% vs. 2.7%), bullies (5.3% vs. 2.0%) and irritable (5.1% vs. 1.8%) behaviours. Rates of conduct and hyperactivity behavioural problems were also significantly more frequent in boys than in girls (conduct problems: 17.9% vs. 8.1%; hyperactivity problems: 20.4% vs. 9.6%). The high rates of disruptive behaviours and problems in boys are in accordance with the literature.