Coping and Mental Health of Children with Special Needs in the Gaza Strip

Behavioral and emotional disorders include a wide range of behavioral patterns, ranging from externalizing to internalizing behavior disorders as well as combined behaviors that include features of both subtypes. Externalizing behaviors are actions that direct problematic energy outward and may include behaviors such as verbal and physical aggression, hyperactivity, noncompliance, and delinquent acts. In contrast, internalizing behaviors are directed toward the self that include social withdrawal, depression, substance abuse, feeding and eating disorders, anxiety, and schizophrenia [2]. Various studies have compared the total scores for problems between deaf and hard hearing students and hearing students using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ] [3]. Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of motor impairment in children, frequently resulting in a life-long disability in children. However, few studies have investigated the behavioral and emotional problems of children with CP. In an European multicenter study using a mental health screening instrument, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), found one in four children aged 8-12 years with CP had scores indicating mental health problems. They concluded with a need for in depth interviews to learn more about the extent of mental health problems in children with CP [4]. A similar population study from Iceland, where preschool children with CP were included, found a three to four fold increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems for these children compared Abstract