Abstract:
Out of total 708 Grade five scholarship holders in Grade six classess, in seven National
schools in Galle MCA, 640 students participated in the study. The non response rate was
9.6 percent. THe self reported version of Sinhala validated strengh and difficuties
questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess the mental health status, while a self administered
questionnaire was used to obtain the basic socio-demographic profile and the challenges
faced by scholarship holders. Data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 for Windows. Students
were categorized in to scales of mental health symptoms according to the British cut off
values. Among 640n scholarship holders who participated in the present study 10.3 percent
of children were identified as having abnormal range of scores. This was a low value
when compared to values obtained in studies in Sri Lankan context among adolescents. Peer
problems were more prevalent ( 18.9 percent) among scholarship holders while conduct and
hyperactivity problems scored 9.7 percent and 8.6 percent respectively. Scholarship holders
had lowest scores ( 5.2 percent) for emotional and pro-social problems. Scholarship holders
are a special group of children with relatively low prevalence of mental health problems
when compared to prevalence of mental health problems reported in othe community and
school based stuides in Sri Lanka. However there is a reasonable proporation of children
who need some psychological support to overcome the challenges which they have faced.
The findings of present study emphasized the need for developing programmes aimed at
children to cope with stressful situations train and sensitize the teachers and parents
regarding child and adolescent mental health problems and strengthen the school mental
health programme.
