Social competence and emotional/behavioral problems in a birth cohort of Sami and Norwegian preadolescents in Arctic Norway as reported by mothers and teachers

• Published in: Nordic journal of psychiatry Vol. 63; no. 2; pp. 178 - 187
• Main Authors: Javo, Cecilie, Rønning, John A., Handegård, Bjørn Helge, Rudmin, Floyd W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa UK Ltd 2009; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Affective Symptoms - epidemiology; Affective Symptoms - psychology; Atferdsvansker; CBCL/TRF; Child; Child Behavior - psychology; Child Behavior Disorders - epidemiology; Child Behavior Disorders - psychology; child behavioral problems; Child Psychiatry - methods; Child Psychiatry - statistics & numerical data; Child Psychiatry - trends; Cohort Studies; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Faculty; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; indigenous Sami; Male; Mothers; Norway - epidemiology; preadolescent; Scandinavia; Sex Distribution; Social Behavior; Socioeconomic Factors; sosial kompetanse; Sosiale forhold; Norge; Finnmark; Norway
• ISSN: 0803-9488; 1502-4725
• DOI: 10.1080/08039480902741752

In a 7-year follow-up birth cohort from the general population in the Sami core area in Finnmark, Arctic Norway, we examined mothers' and teachers' reports of social competence and emotional/behavioral problems among 71 indigenous Sami and 77 Norwegian 11-12-year-olds. The instruments used were the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for parents and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). No ethnic differences were found on competence scales. Total Problems reported by Sami and Norwegian mothers were low in comparison with the overall mean found in multicultural meta-studies. Sami mothers reported lower Total Problems and Attention Problems than did Norwegian mothers. There were no ethnic differences on the TRF measures. Consistent with other international studies, mothers and teachers rated girls higher than boys on social competence and boys higher than girls on Externalizing and Attention Problems. Gender differences were larger on the TRF than on the CBCL. The very low problem ratings made by the Sami mothers indicate that there is a need for specific clinical cut-off points to distinguish between clinically referred and non-referred children in this indigenous Arctic population.