The Association Between Problematic School Behaviours And Social And Emotional Development In Children Seeking Mental Health Treatment

Problematic and disruptive behaviours continue to be a pervasive problem in elementary school classrooms across the globe, with recent reports indicating rising trends. The present study seeks to describe a unique sample of children who are seeking mental health services and present with specific problematic school behaviours. Preliminary analyses were conducted to provide a descriptive understanding of the demographic characteristics of the sample of children. Comparative analyses were conducted to investigate the social and emotional functioning of children who engage in minimal problematic school behaviours and children who engage in more severe and frequent problematic school behaviours. Findings indicate significant between-group differences for conduct problems, hyperactivity-inattention, and peer relationship problems. Implications and possible suggestions are discussed regarding how key stakeholders can make use of these findings within their school contexts.