Social network and behaviour problems among 11-13-year-old schoolchildren. A theoretical and empirical basis for network therapy.

On the basis of theories concerning the relation of the social network to health and behaviour (e.g., social ecology, systems theory, and susceptibility theory), a theoretical model has been developed to understand the influence of the social network on children's behaviour problems in school. In western societies, children may participate in a number of different groups, such as the family, and school, neighbours, and so on. These groups may have different values, ideals and norms, etc. such differences may be assumed to promote the child's development, but they may also give rise to difficulties. The extent to which the persons in these groups know one another is assumed to be of vital importance in this regard. Contacts between the various persons in the different groups in the child's network are called spans and a network with a few of these is called a fragmented network. The main purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that children with behaviour problems in school have fragmented networks. The networks of schoolchildren aged 11-13 years from various groups of schoolchildren from the general population (the main study comprised 190 boys and girls) were studied with the help of a method consisting of a network map of the children's everyday social networks, which they had to fill in. This method was tested by studying the relation of the network variables to the background variables, by means of comparisons with sociograms and classmates network maps, comparisons with information from the parents, by retesting and also by means of a structured interview with the children and a questionnaire sent to teachers and parents. The method was found to be usable for describing the child's 'inner picture' of its social network, which also seems to agree to some extent with the views held by other persons who know the child well. Rutter's teacher's questionnaire, after it was tested for validity and reliability under Swedish conditions, has been used as a screening instrument for behaviour problems in schools. The 32 children with behaviour problems in school, according to Rutter's teacher's questionnaire, were compared with the remaining 158. The findings support the hypothesis that was advanced--namely, that the problem children have fragmented networks. In view of the results obtained, which also support the theory advanced, a case study is reported concerning a model for clinical interventions in the form of network therapy for children with behaviour problems in school and who have fragmented networks.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)