Analysis of Predictive Factors on Minors’ Mental Health According to the Spanish National Health Survey

Abstract

Research on minors’ mental health is an increasingly developing area. Given the increased prevalence of disorders, it seems necessary to analyze the factors that can affect poor mental health. This study analyzes the influence of occupational class, educational level, age, sex and perceived mental health of Spanish children, which is measured through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The sample consists of 3599 minors between 4 and 14 years old, who were interviewed through the Spanish National Health Survey 2011. Our results indicating the significant (p < 0.05) relationship between mental health, occupational class (OR 0.533) and minors’ health in the last year (OR 0.313) are shown. However, gender (OR 1.187) and educational level of Pre-School Education in relation to Secondary Education (OR 1.174) and Primary Education (OR 0.996) do not generate significant differences. In conclusion, we consider it necessary to design and implement public policies aimed at improving the care system for children who have had poor or regular health in the last year, and whose parents are positioned in the lowest part of the occupational scale.

Impact of the Familiar Environment in 11–14-Year-Old Minors’ Mental Health

“…For the studies that have related occupational class of parents with mental health, three social classes are frequently used: high, medium, and low [ 5 ]. The results show that those jobs of the primary wage earner with lower categories are those most related to the presence of mental health problems in children [ 17 ], where parental rejection was more prevalent among parents with little education and a low family socio-economic level [ 18 ]. On the contrary, it is the families with jobs corresponding to the middle and the most privileged classes that become a higher protective factor against the presence of mental health problems in the minors than those linked to disadvantaged classes [ 12 , 13 , 15 , 17 ].…”

“…The results show that those jobs of the primary wage earner with lower categories are those most related to the presence of mental health problems in children [ 17 ], where parental rejection was more prevalent among parents with little education and a low family socio-economic level [ 18 ]. On the contrary, it is the families with jobs corresponding to the middle and the most privileged classes that become a higher protective factor against the presence of mental health problems in the minors than those linked to disadvantaged classes [ 12 , 13 , 15 , 17 ]. In general, those children with families with poorer socioeconomic status have worse physical and mental health than those with a higher socioeconomic level [ 14 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

International and Spanish Findings in Scientific Literature about Minors’ Mental Health: Predictive Factors Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

“…In this sense, the international agreement for the application of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) [18], or the measurement of mental health, has represented an advance in research coordination within the scientific community [19], always with the precaution of the possible effects that cultural differences may have on the results [20,21]. This questionnaire has been validated internationally [4,15,22,23,24,25] and has been used in a multitude of studies to measure mental health both longitudinally [4,26], and transversally [14,27]. It has proven to be an excellent screening tool compared to other more classic tools, such as the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) [28,29].…”

“…In Spain, it was introduced for the first time in the National Health Survey of 2006 to study the mental health of children. In addition to the 2006 Spanish National Health Survey, ENSE 2006 [13,15,38,39], it has also been used in subsequent counterpart studies, ENSE 2011-2012 [14,34]. Therefore, it can be concluded that the SDQ-parent is an internationally recognized instrument with excellent quality for the screening of children with problems or difficulties in mental health [40].…”

“…Regarding the explanatory variables of mental health in children and adolescents, several studies within the Spanish context have focused their attention on analysis of the influence of variables such as age, gender, occupational social class of parents, or perceived physical health [13,14,15,16]. The early identification of these variables can be beneficial in helping to avoid emotional and behavioral problems that can also be aggravated at later stages of life.…”