Epäsosiaalinen käytös ja sen yhteys perhetaustaan, oppimisvaikeuksiin, hyvinvointiin ja koulussa saatuun tukeen 4. ja 5. luokkalaisilla: Kouluterveyskyselyn 2019 tuloksia
Keywords:
behavior problems, conduct problems, antisocial behavior, School Health Promotion StudyAbstract
There is scarcity of recent, up to date nation-wide research on behavior problems among Finnish children. Aim of the present study was to examine the associations of child's behavior problems with family background, the child's learning difficulties and well-being, and the support the child receives at school in a Finnish population based sample. The responses of 4th and 5th graders and their guardians from the 2019 School Health Promotion study (N = 34,473) were analyzed. The child's behavior problems were measured with the excessive impulsivity and disruptive behavior questions of the Multisource Assessment of the Children's Social Competence (MASK), which were answered by the child's guardian.
Children whose families had a lower socio-economic status, whose parents were divorced or who lived in a blended family had more impulsive and disruptive behavior than other children. Foreign background was associated with less impulsive (but not disruptive) behavior in both boys and girls. Behavior problems were linked to increased learning difficulties and well-being challenges, such as bullying and being bullied, loneliness and mood problems. Compared to other children, the use of student welfare services and visits by a special education teacher were more common in children with behavioral problems.
Differences related to family background in children's behavior problems are clear. In addition, children with behavioral problems have challenges in learning and many factors that weaken well-being, which probably further increases the observed health differences in the long term. It would therefore be important that challenges related to children's behavior problems are addressed early enough and using appropriate methods. This would be in the interest of both the child, the parents and the school. Studies on the associations between child’s behavior problems and the use of school services to alleviate these problems are scarce, and more research on this issue is urgently needed.
