Behavioural Problems Amongst Pre-School Children in Chongqing, China: Current Situation and Influencing Factors

Figures & data

Table 1 Basic Situation Distribution

	Number of People (n)	Percentage (%)
Gender
Male	782	53.78
Female	672	46.22
Age
3 years old	339	22.68
4 years old	563	37.66
5 years old	414	27.69
6 years old	179	11.97
Number of children in the family
One	862	58.32
Two	573	38.77
Three or more	43	2.91
Was the child born prematurely?
No	1359	91.52
Yes	126	8.48
Duration of the breastfeeding period
1–3 months	267	18.23
3–6 months	284	19.39
6–9 months	392	26.76
9–12 months	354	24.16
12 months or more	168	11.47
Education level of the father
Primary school	420	28.46
High school	318	21.54
Higher education	738	50.00
Education level of the mother
Primary school	449	30.71
High school	295	20.18
Higher education	718	49.11
Is the family a single-parent family?
No	1305	94.36
Yes	78	5.64
Household monthly income (USD)
<565	176	12.25
565–1130	445	30.97
1130–1695	431	29.99
1696–2260	170	11.83
2261–2820	119	8.28
>2820	96	6.68
Daily screen time
<30 minutes	423	28.74
31–60 minutes	650	44.16
61–90 minutes	264	17.93
91–120 minutes	83	5.64
≥120 minutes	52	3.53
If your child had psychological problems, what would you do?
Children cannot have psychological problems	136	9.10
Children’s psychological problems disappear as they grow up	75	5.02
I would actively seek solutions	1137	76.05
I would be aware of the problems, but would not know how to act	147	9.83
If your child does something wrong, how do you usually respond?
I would scold my child	201	13.44
I would tell my child how act properly in order to avoid future mistakes	1120	74.92
I would encourage my child to explore and try	174	11.64
How much time do you spend interacting with your child every day?
Less than 1 hour	587	39.26
1—2 hours	765	51.17
3—4 hours	115	7.69
4 hours or more	28	1.87
Do you control how much time your child spends watching TV, playing on the phone, or surfing the internet?
Yes, I decide entirely	301	20.13
Yes, I discuss with my child to set screen time limits	1129	75.52
I do not exert control over my child’s screen time	65	4.35
Are you consistent in your behaviour towards your child?
Totally consistent	917	61.34
Sometimes consistent	491	32.84
Totally inconsistent	87	5.82
How often do you have intense conflicts in front of your children?
Often	29	1.94
Occasionally	808	54.05
Never	658	44.01
How do you qualify your relationship with your child?
Friendship	518	34.65
My child obeys at all times	51	3.41
Harmonious while maintaining parental authority	897	60.00
My child has the authority	29	1.94
How often do go out with your child to experience nature?
Never	16	1.07
Rarely	171	11.45
Occasionally	491	32.86
Often	720	48.19
Always	96	6.43
How often do you encourage your child to communicate with others or take part in group activities?
Never	15	1.00
Rarely	101	6.76
Occasionally	280	18.75
Often	883	59.14
Always	214	14.33
How often do you tutor your child in his homework?
Never	29	1.96
Rarely	156	10.53
Occasionally	342	23.09
Often	653	44.09
Always	301	20.32

Table 2 Analysis of Factors Influencing Behavioural Problems in Pre-School Children

	Mean	SD	P
Gender
Male	13.933	3.486	0.487^a
Female	13.806	3.464
Age
3 years old	14.535	3.676	0.0007^b
4 years old	13.994	3.493
5 years old	13.410	3.713
6 years old	13.452	3.164
Number of children in the family
One	13.924	3.444	0.341^b
Two	13.785	3.543
Three or more	13.186	3.540
Was the child born prematurely?
No	13.757	3.469	0.0001^a
Yes	14.992	3.362
Duration of the breastfeeding period
1–3 months	14.329	3.728	0.467^b
3–6 months	13.845	3.375
6–9 months	13.584	3.537
9–12 months	13.991	3.314
12 months or more	13.500	3.373
Education level of the father
Primary school	14.040	3.625	0.071^b
High school	14.116	3.370
Higher education	13.661	3.428
Education level of the mother
Primary school	13.884	3.541	0.464^b
High school	14.050	3.414
Higher education	13.757	3.450
Is the family a single-parent family?
No	13.883	3.442	0.485^a
Yes	13.602	3.601
Household monthly income (USD)
<565	13.233	3.604	0.0045^b
565–1130	13.813	3.513
1130–1695	14.380	3.424
1696–2260	13.723	3.236
2261–2820	13.680	3.522
>2820	13.500	3.586
Daily screen time
<30 minutes	13.378	3.621	<0.0001^b
31–60 minutes	13.792	3.366
61–90 minutes	14.143	3.416
91–120 minutes	15.216	3.561
≥120 minutes	14.846	3.226
If your child had psychological problems, what would you do?
Children cannot have psychological problems	12.808	3.400	0.0001^c
Children’s psychological problems disappear as they grow up	13.440	4.240
I would actively seek solutions	13.770	3.366
I would be aware of the problems, but would not know how to act	15.632	3.418
If your child does something wrong, how do you usually respond?
I would scold my child	14.850	3.688	<0.0001^b
I would tell my child how act properly in order to avoid future mistakes	13.768	3.389
I would encourage my child to explore and try	13.212	3.605
How much time do you spend interacting with your child every day?
Less than 1 hour	14.299	3.462	0.0002^c
1—2 hours	13.675	3.344
3—4 hours	12.982	4.056
4 hours or more	12.714	3.847
Do you control how much time your child spends watching TV, playing on the phone, or surfing the internet?
Yes, I decide entirely	14.365	3.574	0.0022^b
Yes, I discuss with my child to set screen time limits	13.671	3.430
I do not exert control over my child’s screen time	14.553	3.644
Are you consistent in your behaviour towards your child?
Totally consistent	13.473	3.356	0.0001^c
Sometimes consistent	14.492	3.517
Totally inconsistent	14.183	4.010
How often do you have intense conflicts in front of your children?
Often	13.896	4.426	0.0037^b
Occasionally	14.122	3.456
Never	13.512	3.442
How do you qualify your relationship with your child?
Friendship	13.490	3.407	0.0141^b
My child obeys at all times	14.705	4.410
Harmonious while maintaining parental authority	13.994	3.442
My child has the authority	14.275	3.721
How often do go out with your child to experience nature?
Never	11.562	3.881	<0.0001^b
Rarely	14.760	3.442
Occasionally	14.012	3.409
Often	13.773	3.407
Always	12.322	3.776
How often do you encourage your child to communicate with others or take part in group activities?
Never	9.600	4.032	<0.0001^b
Rarely	14.782	2.955
Occasionally	14.532	3.444
Often	13.788	3.413
Always	13.144	3.622
How often do you tutor your child’s homework?
Never	12.275	4.495	0.0058^b
Rarely	13.871	3.582
Occasionally	14.155	3.381
Often	13.955	3.409
Always	13.385	3.554

Notes: The following three tests were used: ^at-test for two independent samples (normal and homogenous variance); ^bANOVA of multiple sets of independent quantitative data (normal and uniform variance); ^cKruskal–Wallis rank sum test (skewness or unequal variance).

Table 3 Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Score of Behavioural Problems in Pre-School Children

Parameters	Estimated Value	Standard Error	95% CI		Chi-Squared	P
Intercept	13.455	1.7019	10.120	16.791	62.51	<0.0001
Age	−0.500	0.102	−0.702	−0.298	23.65	<0.0001
BMI	−0.065	0.039	−0.142	0.011	2.75	0.097
Gender
Female	−0.074	0.185	−0.437	0.289	0.16	0.6893
Male(ref.)
Number of children in the family
2	−0.371	0.197	−0.757	0.015	3.55	0.059
3	−1.496	0.603	−2.680	−0.313	6.14	0.013
1(ref.)
Was the child born prematurely?
Yes	0.672	0.338	0.009	1.334	3.95	0.046
No(ref.)
Duration of the breastfeeding period
3–6 months	−0.734	0.305	−1.332	−0.136	5.80	0.016
6–9 months	−0.923	0.288	−1.488	−0.358	10.26	0.001
9–12 months	−0.490	0.292	−1.062	0.081	2.82	0.093
12 months or more	−1.271	0.356	−1.970	−0.573	12.73	<0.0001
1–3 months(ref.)
Education level of the father
High school	0.119	0.300	−0.470	0.708	0.16	0.691
Higher education	−0.373	0.312	−0.986	0.239	1.43	0.232
Primary school(ref.)
Education level of the mother
High school	−0.028	0.307	−0.631	0.573	0.01	0.925
Higher education	−0.319	0.311	−0.929	0.290	1.05	0.305
Primary school(ref.)
Is the family a single-parent family?
Yes	−0.117	0.420	−0.941	0.706	0.08	0.780
No(ref.)
Household monthly income (USD)
565–1130	0.422	0.322	−0.208	1.053	1.72	0.189
1130–1695	1.241	0.336	0.582	1.901	13.61	<0.0001
1696–2260	0.841	0.402	0.052	1.630	4.37	0.036
2261–2820	0.547	0.436	−0.308	1.402	1.57	0.210
>2820	0.801	0.464	−0.108	1.711	2.98	0.084
<565(ref.)
Daily screen time
31–60 minutes	0.348	0.222	−0.087	0.783	2.45	0.117
61–90 minutes	0.459	0.281	−0.091	1.010	2.67	0.102
91–120 minutes	1.497	0.456	0.602	2.392	10.76	0.001
≥120 minutes	0.907	0.519	−0.111	1.926	3.05	0.080
<30 minutes(ref.)
If your child had psychological problems, what would you do?
Children’s psychological problems disappear as they grow up	0.038	0.588	−1.113	1.191	0.000	0.947
I would actively seek solutions	0.899	0.340	0.231	1.567	6.97	0.008
I would be aware of the problems, but would not know how to act	2.171	0.440	1.309	3.034	24.35	<0.0001
Children cannot have psychological problems(ref.)
If your child does something wrong, how do you respond?
I would tell my child how act properly in order to avoid future mistakes	−0.807	0.285	−1.366	−0.248	8.02	0.004
I would encourage my child to explore and try	−1.015	0.377	−1.755	−0.275	7.23	0.007
I would scold my child(ref.)
How much time do you spend interacting with your child every day?
1–2 hours	−0.510	0.203	−0.908	−0.111	6.30	0.012
3–4 hours	−1.766	0.375	−2.502	−1.030	22.12	<0.0001
4 hours or more	−1.603	0.746	−3.066	−0.139	4.61	0.031
less than1 hour(ref.)
Do you control how much time does your child spend watching TV, playing on the phone, or surfing the internet every day?
Yes, I discuss with my child to set screen time limits	−0.233	0.243	−0.710	0.242	0.93	0.336
I do not exert control over my child’s screen time	−0.115	0.499	−1.095	0.863	0.05	0.816
Yes, I decide entirely(ref.)
Are you consistent in your behaviour towards your child?
Sometimes consistent	0.445	0.209	0.034	0.856	4.51	0.033
Totally inconsistent	0.016	0.408	−0.784	0.817	0.00	0.968
Totally consistent(ref.)
How often do you have intense conflicts in front of your child?
Sometimes	−0.256	0.721	−1.671	1.158	0.13	0.722
Never	−0.609	0.728	−2.037	0.818	0.70	0.402
Often(ref.)
How do you qualify your relationship with your child?
My child obeys at all times	0.344	0.596	−0.824	1.513	0.33	0.563
Harmonious while maintaining parental authority	0.298	0.198	−0.090	0.688	2.26	0.132
My child has the authority	1.276	0.722	−0.138	2.691	3.12	0.077
Friendship(ref.)
How often do go out with your child to experience nature?
Rarely	1.258	1.062	−0.823	3.339	1.40	0.236
Occasionally	0.607	1.065	−1.481	2.695	0.32	0.568
Often	0.683	1.067	−1.407	2.775	0.41	0.521
Always	−0.262	1.136	−2.490	1.965	0.05	0.817
Never(ref.)
How often do you encourage your child to communicate with others or take part in group activities?
Rarely	3.254	1.033	1.229	5.278	9.92	0.001
Occasionally	3.191	1.013	1.205	5.177	9.92	0.001
Often	2.767	1.014	0.778	4.755	7.44	0.006
Always	2.455	1.055	0.387	4.523	5.42	0.019
Never(ref.)
How often do you tutor your child’s homework?
Rarely	−0.113	0.790	−1.662	1.435	0.02	0.885
Occasionally	0.499	0.766	−1.003	2.002	0.42	0.515
Often	0.971	0.760	−0.520	2.462	1.63	0.201
Always	0.896	0.782	−0.637	2.430	1.31	0.251
Never(ref.)