Teacher reports of emotional and behavioral problems in Nepali schoolchildren: to what extent do they agree with parent reports?

BACKGROUND

Teacher reports of child emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) are sparse in many low- and middle-income countries, especially when compared to reports from parents. Cross-informant information is pivotal to clinicians when dealing with mentally ill children. In this study from Nepal, we examined teacher reports of child EBPs, the agreement between teacher and parent reports, and how this agreement varied by type of EBP and child gender.

METHODS

This cross-sectional, observational study included 3808 schoolchildren aged 6-18 years from 16 districts of Nepal. Teacher and parent reports of EBPs were measured by the Nepali versions of the Teacher Report Form (TRF) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), respectively. Linear mixed model analysis was used for group comparisons and intraclass correlations. Agreement between TRF and CBCL scale scores were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

The prevalence of EBPs according to teacher reports was 15.4%, whereas the previous parent reported prevalence was 19.1%. Also, the mean TRF score was significantly lower than mean CBCL score for the 90 common items. Mean TRF scores for Total Problems, Externalizing Problems, and Internalizing Problems were 26.9 (standard deviation, SD 24.5), 6.1 (SD 7.2), and 7.9 (SD 7.3), respectively. Consistent with parent reports, mean TRF scores for Total Problems and Externalizing Problems were higher among boys than girls, whereas no significant gender differences were found for Internalizing Problems. Teacher-parent agreement was moderate (r = .38), and slightly higher for Externalizing Problems than for Internalizing Problems (r = .37 versus r = .34). Moderate to low correlations were found for all syndrome scales, with coefficients ranging from r = .26 (Social Problems) to r = .37 (Attention Problems). The effect of child gender on the teacher-parent agreement was significant for Internalizing Problems only, with a higher agreement for girls than for boys.

CONCLUSION

Nepali teachers reported fewer child EBPs than parents. Teacher-parent agreement was moderate and varied by type of EBP and child gender. Our findings underscore the importance of obtaining information on child EBPs from both parents and teachers when evaluating and treating children in low- and middle-income countries like Nepal.

The effectiveness of a school-based, universal mental health programme in six European countries

As children and young people today face ever increasing social, emotional and mental health challenges, schools, as one of the primary systems in children's lives, are called to broaden their agenda and help to address these challenges. This paper discusses the evaluation of a school-based, universal mental health promotion programme developed recently for the European context. The programme provides a universal curriculum from early years to high school, aiming to promote social and emotional learning and resilience and prevent social, emotional, and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. A total of 7,789 students (and their teachers and parents) from kindergarten to high school across 6 countries in Europe were recruited from 434 classrooms in 124 schools, making use of cluster sampling. A quasi-experimental longitudinal design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme on students' outcomes by comparing the groups' outcomes within times (pre-test vs. post-test) and between groups (experimental vs. control group). A total of 779 classroom teachers completed pre-and-post scales measuring students' social and emotional learning, mental health and academic achievement. Results indicate that the experimental group had significantly larger increase in social and emotional competence and prosocial behaviour, and a decrease in mental health issues (externalising and internalising problems). No significant impact was found for academic outcomes. The findings are discussed in view of the limitations of the study and areas for further research.

Research Review: Language and specific learning disorders in children and their co-occurrence with internalizing and externalizing problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Some studies suggest that children with language and learning disorders (LLDs) show more internalizing and externalizing problems than their peers. However, the available evidence remains inconsistent, especially regarding the conditions under which these psychological problems occur.

METHODS

We performed a meta-analysis of studies comparing children with LLDs and controls on internalizing (53 independent samples, 135 effect sizes) and externalizing problems (37 independent samples, 61 effect sizes) separately.

RESULTS

Children with LLDs showed higher internalizing (Hedges' g = 0.36) and externalizing problems (Hedges' g = 0.42) than controls did. The group standardized difference in internalizing problems was moderated by the primary disorder, with children with language disorders showing more internalizing problems than those with reading disorders. The severity of the primary disorder, IQ, and age did not moderate Hedge's g between children with LLDs and controls in internalizing and externalizing outcomes. The same pattern was found for gender as a moderator of Hedge's g in internalizing problems, while findings for externalizing problems were inconclusive. The results were consistent when methodological variables were assessed, also for informant, sample size, and geographical area. Clinical samples with LLDs reported higher internalizing problems respect to those with difficulties, but findings on externalizing outcomes were limited. Similarly, results on the presence of additional symptoms in learning and language, self-concept, and socioeconomic status were inconclusive, as few studies reported this information. Results were robust when publication bias, publication year, and study quality were assessed.

CONCLUSIONS

There is evidence that children with LLDs report higher internalizing and externalizing problems than controls do. Children with language disorders seemed more vulnerable to report more internalizing problems, and clinical samples reported higher problems than those with difficulties. For clinical practice, assessment and interventions should target socioemotional skills to support the psychological well-being of children with LLDs.

Teachers' Judgments of Students' School-Wellbeing, Social Inclusion, and Academic Self-Concept: A Multi-Trait-Multimethod Analysis Using the Perception of Inclusion Questionnaire

Students’ school well-being, social inclusion, and academic self-concept are considered important outcome variables of schools. In the present study, these three variables were examined from teachers’ and students’ perspective (grades 5–9). The aim of the study was to investigate the construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity) of the teacher’s version of the Perception of Inclusion Questionnaire (PIQ). Further, we investigated whether or not it is meaningful to include the perspective of a second teacher. The dataset consists of PIQ ratings of 151 students as well as ratings from two main subject teachers. The results for psychometric properties show that the students’ as well as the teachers’ version of the PIQ is suitable for secondary school students. The confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated good model fit for the three-dimensional factorial structure. By excluding one teacher’s rating from the model, the multitrait-multimethod analysis provided indicators for the PIQ’s construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity) of the traits and discriminant validity of the methods.

Agreement among student, parent and teacher ratings of school inclusion: A multitrait-multimethod analysis

One of the central objectives of inclusive education, and education in general, is not only to support every students' academic learning, but also their social and emotional development. It therefore is important to identify difficulties in a child's socio-emotional development at school. The current study investigates students' emotional inclusion and social inclusion, as well as students' academic self-concept from four different perspectives using the Perceptions of Inclusion Questionnaire (PIQ). In particular, we analyzed the degree of agreement between teacher, mother, and father ratings with students' self-reports. Moreover, we tested if students' gender and special educational needs (SEN) are predictors for possible bias in parent and teacher reports. Survey participants included 721 Austrian, Grade 4 students from 48 classes. In addition, data from 46 teachers, 466 mother reports, and 375 father reports were included. We assessed the consistency (i.e., agreement) between the different raters by means of multitrait-multimethod analyses, or more precisely, a correlated trait-correlated method minus one (CT-C[M-1]) model. Results of the CT-C(M-1) analyses indicated a rather strong rater bias (i.e., method effects) for all three dimensions of inclusion. However, the consistency for academic self-concept was higher than for emotional and social inclusion. Furthermore, gender and SEN status affected rater bias, particularly for teacher reports. Results suggested that it matters who reports students' emotional inclusion, social inclusion, and academic self-concept, which has methodological and practical implications.