PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL ALTERATIONS IN CHILDHO OD - THE CHILD IN ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL

The investigation which is presented in this reports attempts to obtai n rates of prevalence in child psychopathology and to discover the ass ociation that socioenvironmental variables establish with regard to th e alteration. The study has followed an epidemiological desing of the cross sectional of a communitary in the school population. The sample is made up of 411 children, aged between 8 and 15. The sources of info rmation have been the parents, the teachers and the children. The prev alence of psychopathological alteration obtained through the level of mental health as informed by the parents was 11,4% The prevalence foun d in the clinical symptoms based on assesment from the parents, teache rs and children respectively has been: symptoms of anxiety 8%, 21% and 26%; symptoms of depression 9%, 26% and 13%; and symptoms of behaviou r alteration 7%, 21% and 16%. The sociodemographic variables are hardl y related to the psychopathology in our study. However, the variables of the school environment - intellectual level, academic performance a nd socialization - are closely linked to alteration, maintaining in ac cord this sense the different sources of assesment.