• B S C Woo, T P Ng, D S S Fung, Y H Chan, Y P Lee, J B K Koh, and Y Cai.
• Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Child Guidance Clinic, Health Promotion Board Building, 3 Second Hospital Avenue, #03-01, Singapore 168937. bernardine_woo@imh.com.sg
• Singap Med J. 2007 Dec 1; 48 (12): 1100-6.

IntroductionThis study aims to determine the prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems in a community sample of Singaporean children aged 6-12 years, and its agreement according to parent, teacher and child reports.MethodsThe Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), Teacher Rating Form (TRF) and child report questionnaires for depression and anxiety were administered to a community sample of primary school children. 60 percent of the children sampled (n = 2,139) agreed to participate. Parents of a sub-sample of 203 children underwent a structured clinical interview.ResultsHigher prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems was identified by CBCL (12.5 percent) than by TRF (2.5 percent). According to parent reports, higher rates of internalising problems (12.2 percent) compared to externalising problems (4.9 percent), were found. Parent-teacher agreement was higher for externalising problems than for internalising problems. Correlations between child-reported depression and anxiety, and parent and teacher reports were low to moderate, but were better for parent reports than for teacher reports.ConclusionThe prevalence rates of emotional and behavioural problems in Singaporean children based on CBCL ratings are comparable to those in the West, but the low response rate and exclusion of children with special needs limit the generalisability of our findings. Singaporean children have higher rates of internalising problems compared to externalising problems, while Western children have higher rates of externalising problems compared to internalising problems.

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