The prevalence of behavioural symptoms amongst a sample of 380 children of 15 years and under, is described. 24% of children had behavioural symptoms, as defined by the subjective responses of parents to a structured questionnaire at home interviews. The frequency of behavioural symptoms was correlated with a number of personal and environmental variables, of which long stays in hospital, not being looked after by a parent, and a high neuroticism score for the parent or responsible adult, were the main predictors for the presence of behavioural symptoms in children.
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