Behavioral Problems among Visually Impaired Children Studying at Special School for Blindness

Abstract

Context: Visual impairment and blindness are significant ophthalmic disorders around the world. Behavioral problems in visually impaired children are considered one of the most serious health problems.
Aim: The study aimed to assess behavioral problems among visually impaired children studying at a special school for blindness and assess the association between behavioral problems scores and selected demographic variables of studied children.

Methods: The research design adopted for this study was a descriptive correlational design. A purposive sample was composed of one hundred and one (101) parents of children with visual impairment. The children were studying at El Nour School for blindness in Minia city. The data were collected using the parents' interview questionnaire and Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 (CBCL/4-18).
Results: Withdrawn syndrome represented the highest clinical level among the studied children, followed by aggressive clinical behavior. Also, less than a fifth of them had to internalize clinical problems, and 17.8% of them had to externalize clinical problems. A highly statistically significant correlation was revealed between the score of total behavior syndromes and the age of studied children. Conclusion: Visually impaired children had problems in the total social competence score and all its subscales. About one-third of them had borderline and clinical problems regarding the total score of behavioral syndromes. Also, internalized and externalized problems had reported. The study recommended that further intervention studies are necessary, including parents' classes about behavioral problems of visually impaired children and methods to limit its effect on children's lives.