CHILDRENS SOCIAL NETWORKS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH BEHAVIORAL DISTURBANCES IN SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES - A COMPARISON BETWEEN A CLINICAL GROUP AND A CONTROL-GROUP

During the last few decades it has been established that there is a st rong relation between the social network of adults and their mental he alth. Different aspects of the network and its influence on the indivi dual have been studied. The present investigation studied the social n etwork of children, 9-16 years old, all living with single parents. A clinical group was compared with a control group to ascertain whether the social networks of the two groups differed in any way and, also, w hether there was any relation between social network and behavioural d isturbances. The investigation shows that the social network of the cl inical group differed from that of the control group, and, even for ch ildren, there is a relation between social network and behavioural dis turbances. Children's social networks explained about 20% of the total incidence of behavioural disturbances.