Bidang Kajian : Kanak-kanak
Pelajar/Pengkaji Oleh: Zainab Abd Majeed
Alamat Emel: zainab_majeed@imu.edu.my
Tarikh: 01/07/2015
Abstrak Kajian
Introduction: In Malaysia, statistics showed mental health problems involving adolescents rose to 13 percent in 1996, 19.4 percent in 2006 and 20 percent last year. The number of children with mental health problems has been noted to be on the rise. It has been noted 10% to 25% of children have mild to serious social-emotional disorders. This research is carried out to determine the prevalence and types of mental health problems among adolescents at Rumah Kanak-Kanak Rembau, Negeri Sembilan and to determine whether there is any association with their psychosocial functioning, for example school performance. Methods: a cross sectional study of 67 female adolescents with age ranging from 13 to 18 years old was conducted in Rumah Kanak-Kanak Rembau, Negeri Sembilan. Children’s behavior check list 6-18 (CBCL 6-18) and Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) were administered. The questionnaires were filled up by the main caregivers of the adolescents at the home. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 and chi-square was done to determine the association between mental health problem and psychosocial functioning. Results: The total number of subject in this study is 67. 43.3% of the subjects have clinical range of internalizing behavior and 27.5% of them have poor psychosocial functioning, shown as low CGAS score. The relationship between internalizing behavior and low CGAS score is significant (p=0.008). Almost half (49.3%) of them have clinical range of externalizing behavior and 18% of them also scored low CGAS. There is also significant relationship between externalizing behavior and low CGAS score (P<0.001). Conclusion: There is a higher prevalence of externalizing behavior among the adolescents in Rumah Kanak-Kanak Rembau. Both internalizing and externalizing behavior will lead to negative effect on the psychosocial functioning of the adolescents.