Background: Mental health of children has recently been
receiving increased attention in many parts of the world.
However, such attention has been lacking in developing
countries, particularly in the form of systematic research
Aim: The study aimed to find out the frequency of
behavior disorders in a sample of primary school children
and the different social and demographic factors that might
be related to this disorder.
Methods: The study is a cross-sectional one that included
918 primary school pupils in both urban and rural areas of
Baghdad. Rutter's questionnaire teacher's version was used
to assess the pupils, and the demographic data was obtained
by special questionnaire sent to the parents to be
completed.
Results: The rate of behavior disorder was found to be
49%, in both rural and urban areas, males had higher
prevalence rate than females. The disturbed pupils had
higher scholastic failure and their parents of lower
educational level and came from highly crowded houses,
they had higher rate of disrupted family by either death of
one of the parents or their father is married to more than
one wife.
Conclusion: There is high rate of behavior disturbances in
school aged children in Baghdad, associated with low
socioeconomic status, bereaved children and having fathers
married to more than one wife. The study shows that these
children have low scholastic achievement.