Prevalence of Children’s Mental Health Problems and the Effectiveness of Population-Level Family Interventions

Abstract

The prevalence of mental health problems among children and adolescents is of growing importance. Intervening in children’s mental health early in life has been shown to be more effective than trying to resolve these problems when children are older. With respect to prevention activities in community settings, the prevalence of problems should be estimated, and the required level of services should be delivered. The prevalence of children’s mental health disorders has been reported for many countries. Preventive intervention has emphasized optimizing the environment. Because parents are the primary influence on their children’s development, considerable attention has been placed on the development of parent training to strengthen parenting skills. However, a public-health approach is necessary to confirm that the benefits of parent-training interventions lead to an impact at the societal level. This literature review clarifies that the prevalence of mental health problems is measured at the national level in many countries and that population-level parenting interventions can lower the prevalence of mental health problems among children in the community.

Social‐emotional problems among three‐year‐olds differ based on the child's gender and custody arrangement

“…Knowledge is limited in terms of incidence and its relation to gender, social and demographic factors . Hence, a systematic identification of children's developmental and behavioural problems is required , which has also been called for by Swedish national authorities. A prevalence study carried out in the USA revealed that more than one‐fifth of the child population three years or younger had mental health problems.…”

Les programmes parentaux ont-ils leur place dans les pays francophones européens ? Analyse des besoins des parents et du soutien souhaité

“…Keywords : Parenting support ; parenting program ; children ; parental needs ; prevention ; access to service; emotional and behavioral disorders REVISION SOUMISE LE 22.06.2018 Les études épidémiologiques sur la santé mentale des enfants révèlent que près d'un enfant sur cinq présente des difficultés émotionnelles ou comportementales sévères, ces chiffres variant de 10 à 20% selon les pays et les méthodes utilisées [1][2][3]. Ces difficultés peuvent fortement toucher la vie quotidienne de l'enfant et entraver les relations avec les pairs, le fonctionnement familial et scolaire.…”

“…De plus, si ces difficultés restent non traitées, la moitié de ces enfants risque d'éprouver des séquelles à long terme, que ce soit à l'adolescence ou à l'âge adulte [4]. Malgré ce constat alarmant, seule une minorité d'enfant (environ 25%) a accès à des services professionnels, du moins en Amérique du Nord [1,5]. En France, il n'existe pas à notre connaissance de données similaires pour les enfants, mais l'accès aux services de santé mentale semble aussi restreint à une minorité d'individus [6].…”

Women’s mental health following the birth of a child: a life course approach

“…Similar proportions of children also appear to experience internalizing and externalizing disorders (Kato et al, 2015).…”

“…It has been suggested that child behaviour and emotional problems have become increasingly common and may lead to, or are associated with, their poor mental health, with some 10.0% to 20.0% of children found to have 'clinically meaningful total difficulty' as assessed by the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) (Kato et al, 2015). Similar proportions of children also appear to experience internalizing and externalizing disorders (Kato et al, 2015).…”