Abstract

BORSA, Juliane Callegaro  and  NUNES, Maria Lucia Tiellet. Prevalence of behavior problems in a sample of school age children of Porto Alegre. Aletheia [online]. 2011, n.34, pp. 32-46. ISSN 1413-0394.

This study investigated the prevalence of behavior problems, measured by the CBCL in a sample of 366 children, students from first to fourth grade of elementary school of Porto Alegre. Data was collected from fathers, mothers or other caregivers. The results indicated a high prevalence of behavior problems in this sample. Aggressive behavior and internalizing problems were predominant. Regarding gender, there was no statistically significant difference. Considering the sociodemographic variables, it was found that the presence of chronic disease in children, the frequency in public school, the occurrence of parental divorce and low education level are strongly associated with children behavior problems. We conclude that the contextual variables in which the child is inserted exert relevant influence in the manifestation of behavior problems.

Keywords : Children; Evaluation; Behavior problems.