title: Sixteen-year comparisons of parent-reported emotional and behaviour problems and competencies in Norwegian children aged 7-9 years.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies about changes in the prevalence of emotional and behaviour problems across time are lacking, especially among younger children.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if the level of parent-reported emotional and behaviour problems and competencies in young Norwegian school children had changed across a 16-year time interval.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared parent reports obtained by the Child Behavior Checklist in two samples of children aged 7-9 years from the general population assessed in 1991 and 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results demonstrated overall stability or slight decreases of emotional and behaviour problems and a significant increase in competencies, mainly due to increased activity and social competence scores in the 2007 sample. Boys obtained higher scores than girls in Total Problems, Externalizing and Attention problems at both time points and there was a high stability of the rank order of items.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest stability in child emotional and behaviour problems, and an increase of competencies across the period.
authors: Torunn Stene Nøvik, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Division of Mental Healthcare, St. Olavs Hospital Trondheim University Hospital , Trondheim , Norway , and Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology , Trondheim , Norway.
authors: Torunn Stene
authors: TS
authors: Nøvik
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Jozefiak
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011581:Psychological Tests; D057566:Self Report; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012919:Social Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires