Making Children’s Mental Health a Public Policy Priority: For the One and the Many

Waddell, Charlotte; Schwartz, Christine R.; Andres, Caitlyn

doi:10.1093/phe/phx018

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…[1][2][3] In fact, a majority of cases of adult mental disorder are thought to originate earlier during childhood or adolescence, [4][5][6] resulting in substantial burden later in life. 7 Children and youth are therefore an important population for public health practitioners to consider with respect to preventing mental disorder throughout the life course. 8 However, the current model of prevention and care may not adequately address children and youth themselves; it is estimated that 75% of children experiencing symptoms of mental disorder do not receive any specialised services that would be of benefit to them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical-mental multimorbidity in children and youth: a scoping review

et al. 2021

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ObjectiveEfforts to describe the current state of research are needed to advance the field of physical-mental multimorbidity (ie, the co-occurrence of at least one physical illness and at least one mental disorder) among children and youth. Our objective was to systematically explore the breadth of physical-mental multimorbidity research in children and youth and to provide an overview of existing literature topics.DesignScoping review.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search of four key databases: PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Scopus as well as a thorough scan of relevant grey literature. We included studies of any research design, published in English, referring to physical-mental multimorbidity among children and youth aged ≤18 years. Studies were screened for eligibility and data were extracted, charted and summarised narratively by research focus. Critical appraisal was employed using the modified Quality Index (QI).ResultsWe included 431 studies and 2 sources of grey literature. Existing research emphasises the co-occurrence of anxiety, mood and attention disorders among children with epilepsy, asthma and allergy. Evidence consists of mostly small, observational studies that use cross-sectional data. The average QI score across applicable studies was 9.1 (SD=1.8).ConclusionsThere is a pressing need for more robust research within the field of child physical-mental multimorbidity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical-mental multimorbidity in children and youth: a scoping review

et al. 2021

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“…In Canada, approximately 8000 children are born to adolescent mothers each year [43], while approximately 42,000 are born to young mothers (aged 20–24 years), with many of the latter experiencing low income (13%) and/or single parenthood (7%) [43, 46]. Reaching these populations and addressing avoidable adversities during early pregnancy — thereby also increasing children’s life chances — is a societal imperative [16, 18, 20]. Our data also suggest that public policy remedies must extend beyond public health and healthcare — encompassing social services, such as ensuring adequate housing and incomes, and preventing child maltreatment and IPV as early as possible in the lifespan.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The British Columbia Healthy Connections Project: findings on socioeconomic disadvantage in early pregnancy

et al. 2019

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Background Maternal exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage increases the risk of child injuries and subsequent child developmental and mental health problems — particularly for young mothers. To inform early intervention planning, this research therefore aimed to describe the health and social adversities experienced by a cohort of girls and young women in early pregnancy in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Methods Participants were recruited for the BC Healthy Connections Project (BCHCP), a randomized controlled trial examining the effectiveness of Nurse-Family Partnership, a home visitation program, in improving child and maternal outcomes. Baseline data were collected from 739 participants on trial entry. Participants were selected on the basis of preparing to parent for the first time and experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Analyses involved descriptive statistics and age-group comparisons. Results Most participants reported having low income (84%), having limited education (52%) and being single (91%) at trial entry. Beyond these eligibility criteria, other health and social adversities included: housing instability (52%); severe anxiety or depression (47%); other diagnosed mental disorders (22%); prenatal nicotine and cannabis use (27 and 21%); physical health problems (20%); child maltreatment when younger (56%); and intimate partner violence recently (50%). As well, few (29%) had received income assistance entitlements. More than two thirds (70%) were experiencing four or more forms of adversity. Age-group differences were observed for cognitive functioning, being single, low income, limited education, psychological distress and service use ( p -value ≤0.05). Conclusions This cohort was selected on the basis of socioeconomic disadvantage. Yet all participants were experiencing substantial added adversities — at higher rates than other Canadians. Furthermore, despite Canada’s public programs, these pregnant girls and young women were not being adequately reached by social services. Our study adds new data to inform early intervention planning, suggesting that unacceptably high levels of socioeconomic disadvantage exist for some young British Columbians. Therefore greater health and social supports and services are warranted for these young mothers and their children. Trial registration Registered August 24, 2012 with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01672060 . Active not recruiting.

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“…27 Given the limited reach of treatment services at present, to substantially reduce prevalence, such plans must have comprehensive public health goals: 1) addressing social determinants and promoting healthy development for all children, 2) preventing disorders, 3) intervening with all children with disorders, and 4) evaluating intervention efforts by monitoring population outcomes. 1 Several provinces/territories have implemented comprehensive children’s mental health plans—showing that this approach is feasible. 17 Some provinces/territories have also made significant new prevention investments—for example, implementing targeted parenting programs for very young children and universal CBT-based programs for school-age children—showing that prevention capacity can be built.…”

Section: Proposed Next Stepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mental disorders typically start in childhood and cause substantial individual and collective burdens across the life span. 1 These disorders are also now the leading cause of childhood disability worldwide. 2 Exacerbating the burdens, high childhood disorder prevalence has been coupled with low children’s mental health service reach.…”

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confidence: 99%

2014 Ontario Child Health Study Findings: Policy Implications for Canada

et al. 2019

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Mental disorders typically start in childhood and cause substantial individual and collective burdens across the life span. 1 These disorders are also now the leading cause of childhood disability worldwide. 2 Exacerbating the burdens, high childhood disorder prevalence has been coupled with low children's mental health service reach. 3 Service shortfalls have persisted despite growing research evidence on effective interventions and despite widespread recognition that timely access to adequate health, social, and educational services is a fundamental right for all children. 4-6 Yet Canada has lacked recent high-quality data to inform policymaking to address these issues. The 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS) now provides these data. This study has broad national applicability given its robust design, including the use of rigorous diagnostic measures in a large representative sample in the general population. 7 The study also has high policy relevance 8 in providing new data on population burden and service reach for emotional and

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Making Children’s Mental Health a Public Policy Priority: For the One and the Many

Cited by 11 publications

References 54 publications

Physical-mental multimorbidity in children and youth: a scoping review

Physical-mental multimorbidity in children and youth: a scoping review

The British Columbia Healthy Connections Project: findings on socioeconomic disadvantage in early pregnancy

2014 Ontario Child Health Study Findings: Policy Implications for Canada

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