A Comparative Study to Assess behavioural Problems in Preschoolers of working and Non working mothers from a selected Urban Community in Kachery, Thrissur
Authors: Abraham Amitha , K. S Annmary , George Geena , Augustine Josna , George Merlin , Ulahannan Ambili , Jacob Seeja , Gnanadurai Angela 
Published: June 2023

Title of the study: A comparative study to assess behavioural problems in preschoolers of working and non working mothers from a selected urban community in Kachery, Thrissur. Introduction: A large number of children suffer from behavioural problems at ltheir development stage. Mothers should able to detect any behavioural changes at the earliest Objective: Assess the behavioural problems in preschoolers of working and non working mothers selected urban community in Kachery, Thrissur. Compare behavioural problems in preschoolers of working and non working mothers from selected urban community in Kachery, Thrissur. Associate selected behavioural problems in preschoolers of working and non working mothers of selected demographic variable. Material and Methodology: The study was conducted among preschoolers of 70 working and 70 non working mothers. The research design of the study was descriptive comparative design and sample was selected by non-probability purposive sampling. Tool: The tool consists of 2 sections: Section A deals with A-socio demographic and clinical data and Section B consist of likert scale to assess behavioural problems in preschoolers of working and non working mothers. Result: Socio-demographic and clinical data variables shows that 22(31.4%) children from age group 3 years, while 18(25.7%) and 7(10%) children are from 5 years and less than 6 years respectively. In non working mothers, 30(42.9%) children are from age group 3 years whereas 19(27.1%) children from age group 4 years while 11(15.1%) and 10(14.3%) are from age group 5 years and less than 6 years respectively. In working mothers, 33(47.1%) children are males whereas 37(52.9%) are females. In non working mothers, 37(52.9%) children are females while 33(47.1%) are males. In working mothers, 0(0.0 %) mothers are illiterate 4(5.7 %) mothers have primary education while 8(11.4%) mothers have secondary education, 38(54.3 %) mothers are graduated and 20(28.6 %) mothers have professional education. In non working mothers, 1(1.4 %) mothers are illiterate whereas 12(17.1 %) mothers have primary education while 30(42.49 %) mothers have secondary education and 4(5.7 %) mothers have professional education. Assessment of behavioural problems in preschoolers of working and non working mothers shows, mild behavioural problem seen in children of working mothers 64(91.429%) which is significantly more than the non working mothers 53(75.714%). Moderate behavioural problems are seen in preschoolers of working mothers 2(2.857%). None of the preschoolers of non working mothers have moderate behavioural problems. 4(5.714%) preschoolers of working mother have no behavioural problems whereas 17(24.286%) preschoolers of non working mothers have no behavioural problems. None of the preschoolers are affected with severe behavioural problems in both groups. In this study, there is significant association of education of mothers with selected behavioural problems. Discussion: Preschoolers of working mothers have more behavioural problems than those of non working mothers. Nurse can play amajor role in diminishing the behavioural problems by providing guidelines and counselling for the mothers. More interventional studies need to be conducted to reduce occurrence of the behavioural problems in preschoolers.