title: Behavioral and emotional problems in a Kuala Lumpur children's home.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a dearth of studies on behavioral and emotional problems in residential care children in Malaysia. This study describes the behavioral and emotional problems in a sample of children in a government residential care home and compares them with their classmates living with their birth parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out where carers from both groups were asked to fill in the translated Bahasa Melayu version of the Child Behavior Check List.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forms for 53 residential care children and 61 classmates were completed. The residential care children had significantly higher scores on the rule-breaking (P < 0.001) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) conduct problem subscales (P < 0.001). Residential care children's age significantly correlated with DSM somatic problems (P = 0.03) and post-traumatic stress (P = 0.023). Duration of care was significantly positively correlated with rule-breaking (P = 0.008), DSM conduct problems (P = 0.018) and externalizing scores (P = 0.017). Abuse and neglect cases had higher anxiety and depression scores (P = 0.024). Number of reasons in care positively correlated with several subscales, including total behavioral problem score (P = 0.005). Logistic regression revealed the greater number of reasons for placement a child had was significantly associated with having externalizing scores in the clinical range (P = 0.016). However, after Bonferroni correction, only the initial findings regarding rule-breaking and DSM conduct problem scores remained significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Challenges exist in managing residential care children in Malaysia, especially regarding externalizing behavior. More studies are required to describe the Malaysian scene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UKM Medical Center, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. fairuzn@ppukm.ukm.edu.my
authors.forename: Fairuz Nazri
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Abd Rahman
authors.forename: Tuti Iryani
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Mohd Daud
authors.forename: Nik Ruzyanei
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Nik Jaafar
authors.forename: Shamsul Azhar
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Susan Mooi Koon
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Wan Salwina
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wan Ismail
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: behavioral problems; emotional problems; externalizing; residential care children