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Glasgow

Glasgow City children indicating need by SDQ-domain at 27-30 month review 1st July 2013 - 30th June 2015  SDQ TOT The majority of children were experiencing no difficulties in their social, emotional or behavioural development. On the sub-scales, the highest proportion of difficulties were in the Conduct Problems and Peer Relationships scales, with the lowest being on the Emotional Symptoms scale.

Glasgow City children indicating need by domain at 27-30 month review, 1st July 2013 - 30th June 2015  

SDQ 30m genderMore boys had difficulties than girls on all scales. Emotional Symptoms were low for both with boys only slightly higher than girls on this scale. On the sub-scales, the highest proportion of difficulties for both boys and girls were in conduct and peer relationship problems.

Proportion of pre-school children with different levels of difficulties on the SDQ Total Difficulties scale and subscales

SDQ tot preschThe majority of children were experiencing no difficulties in their social, emotional or behavioural development (85%). On the sub-scales, the highest proportion of difficulties was in the Pro-social Behaviours scale, with the lowest being on the Emotional Symptoms scale.

Proportion of pre-school children with ‘likely difficulties’ on the SDQ Total Difficulties scale and sub-scales by sex of child

SDQ tot presch genderPre-school SDQ results suggest that more boys had difficulties than girls on all scales except for Emotional Symptoms, which was low for both. In particular, at this age, boys were more than three times more likely to have difficulties on the Hyperactivity/inattention scale, two-and-a-half times more likely to have conduct problems and around three times as likely to lack pro-social behaviours.

Proportion of P3-aged children with different levels of difficulties on the SDQ Total Difficulties scale and subscales, Glasgow compared to UK average

SDQ P3 UK ComparisonFewer than one in ten children in P3 in Glasgow City had social, emotional or behavioural difficulties on the Total Difficulties scale (9.3%). The highest proportion of difficulties was with hyperactivity/inattention, where 15.8% of P3s in Glasgow City had difficulties in this area. This was substantially higher than the levels of hyperactivity/inattention difficulties in the UK as a whole for 5-10 year olds (Green et al. 2005). This may be related to the higher levels of deprivation in Glasgow City, which may exacerbate such difficulties. Children in P3 in Glasgow City were also twice as likely to have difficulties with their behaviour (8.1% vs 4.3%), but they were less likely to have difficulties with pro-social behaviours, such as volunteering to help others or being kind.

Proportion of P3-aged children with different levels of difficulties on the SDQ Total Difficulties scale and subscales, Glasgow, by gender

SDQ P3 gender ComparisonBoys were more likely to have difficulties than girls in all areas. This was particularly the case in terms of hyperactivity/inattention difficulties, conduct problems and difficulties with pro-social behaviours. Boys had levels of hyperactivity/inattention two-and-a-half times higher than girls in P3.

Notes

The SDQ is a brief behavioural screening questionnaire for children. It covers five areas: Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity/inattention, Peer Relationship Problems, Emotional Symptoms and Pro-social Behaviours. The first four of these are rated negatively (that is, they pick up difficulties in children). These can be added together to give a Total Difficulties score, which shows an indication of overall difficulties that the child is experiencing. The final area, Pro-social Behaviours, is a positively scored scale, so it shows things the child does e.g. ‘is helpful if someone is hurt or upset’. The Total Difficulties score and the sub-scale scores can be split into groups which indicate whether a child has no difficulties, possible difficulties or likely difficulties. A global SDQ score of over 17 indicates a behavioural concern. If needs are identified via the SDQ, a set of impact questions is also completed in partnership with the parent or carer to gain a deeper insight into the impact of the current behaviour on the family.  

Further reading under ‘Psycho-social functioning’