A cross-site comparing study on child behavior and emotional problems in Hong Kong and Chengdu

Abstract

Objective: To compare the behavior and emotional problems of children in Hong Kong and in Chengdu, and to investigate the effects of socio-cultural factors on assessments. Methods: A total of 2673 Hong Kong children and 858 Chengdu Children aged 6-18 years old were randomly sampled. Their parents completed Achenbach’s Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Results: Most of the subscale scores were significantly higher in Hong Kong samples than those in Chengdu samples. The differences in the subscales of anxious/depressed, attention problems and externalizing were very significant between two sites measured by the effect sizes. Conclusions: The results suggest that there may be difference in the prevalence of children psychopathology in these two cities. However, the possibility of differences in parental awareness, attitudes and reporting bias in the children’s psychopathology cannot be excluded.

目的 :比較香港和成都市少年兒童的行為和情緒問題 ,探討社會文化因素對評定結果的影響。方法 :使用Achenbach兒童行為量表 (Achenbach’sChildBehaviorChecklist,CBCL)對香港 2 6 73名、成都市 85 8名 6— 18歲樣本進行評定。結果 :發現CBCL多數綜合征評分香港地區高于成都。作用強度分析可見兩地的焦慮抑郁、注意缺陷和外向性因子的差異特別明顯。結論 :可能香港少年兒童的心理問題出現率高于成都市 ,但也不能排除兩地父母對兒童心理問題的認識理解、態度以及評定偏差有所不同造成兩地評定結果的差異