Labib Bayan, Khader Yousef, Abu Khudair Sara, Al Nsour Mohannad, Tanaka Eizaburo
Faculty of Dentistry, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan.
Department of Community Medicine, Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan.
Pediatr Rep. 2024 Dec 19;16(4):1223-1237. doi: 10.3390/pediatric16040103.
Global research has reported that the number of children and adolescents suffering from mental health issues has increased over the past decades. In Jordan, there has been a growing interest in investigating mental health among these groups in the most recent decade; nevertheless, only a few studies have covered behavioral and emotional problems. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems among children and adolescents in Jordan and investigate their associated factors.
A large-scale, national, school-based cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2022 and April 2023 on children and adolescents living in Jordan aged between 8 and 18 years. The study included public schools, private schools, UNRWAs schools, Zaatrai camp schools, and non-formal education centers. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used to measure behavioral and emotional problems.
About 13.9% of the children had abnormal difficulty scores, and they suffered the most from emotional symptoms (17.9%). Syrian children in refugee camps had the highest rate of total difficulty (19.3%). In the adolescents, 19.7% had high levels of total difficulty, where conduct problems were the most reported (17.6%), and Syrian adolescents in refugee camps were highly affected (22.2%). The number of traumatic events, physical activity, problematic internet use, and family affluence were significantly associated with an increased risk of having behavioral and emotional problems in both the children and adolescents.
A significant proportion of children and adolescents struggle with emotional and behavioral problems in Jordan, and serious efforts are needed to enhance the status of mental health for adolescents and children.
全球研究报告称，在过去几十年中，患有心理健康问题的儿童和青少年数量有所增加。在约旦，近十年来人们对调查这些群体的心理健康越来越感兴趣；然而，只有少数研究涉及行为和情绪问题。本研究旨在估计约旦儿童和青少年中行为和情绪问题的患病率，并调查其相关因素。
2022年12月至2023年4月，对约旦8至18岁的儿童和青少年进行了一项大规模、全国性、基于学校的横断面研究。该研究包括公立学校、私立学校、近东救济工程处学校、扎塔里难民营学校和非正规教育中心。使用优势与困难问卷来测量行为和情绪问题。
约13.9%的儿童困难得分异常，其中情绪症状方面受影响最大（17.9%）。难民营中的叙利亚儿童总困难率最高（19.3%）。在青少年中，19.7%的人总困难程度较高，其中行为问题报告最多（17.6%），难民营中的叙利亚青少年受影响程度很高（22.2%）。创伤事件的数量、体育活动、有问题的互联网使用和家庭富裕程度与儿童和青少年出现行为和情绪问题的风险增加显著相关。
在约旦，相当一部分儿童和青少年存在情绪和行为问题，需要做出认真努力来提高青少年和儿童的心理健康状况。
