Development and validation of a behavioural and emotional problem scale for Omani children

The study focused on the development and validation of a Behavioural and Emotional Problems Scales (BEPS) for use with school children in grades 1-4 in mainstream education in the Governate of Muscat. BEPS comprises 48 items equally divided into 6 dimensions: social problems, attention problems, aggression, rebellious behaviour, anxiety, and depression. Parents of 443 children in grades 1-4 rated the behaviour of their children over 6 months, grading the frequency of each behaviour, occurring often (3), sometimes (2) or never (1). Higher scores indicate greater prevalence of behavioural problems. The scale has been validated based on a sample of 443 male and female pupils in the Governance of Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. Face and factorial validity of the test was verified and reliability, as measured by Cronbach's alpha, was satisfactory (0.93). This study identifies a number of recommendations relating to the use of the scale.