Psychopathology and Related Psychosocial Factors in Children with Office Discipline Referrals at School: Evidence from a Developing Country.

ABSTRACT

Many childhood psychiatric disorders present their first symptoms as challenging behaviors at school. Evidence from cross-national studies enhance the understanding of the biological and cultural variables underlying these behaviours. In this study, we aim to identify the psychopathology among children with office disciplinary referrals and assess psychosocial risk factors related to this situation. Forty-seven students who had received an office discipline referral and eighty-three controls who had never been given an office disciplinary referral participated in this study. The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children--Present and Lifetime, socio-demographic data form were administered to children to assess their respective psychopathologies and psychosocial risk factors. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder were significantly higher in children with Office discipline referrals. Psychiatric assessment should be one of the first steps in the evaluation processes of assessing challenging behaviors at school.