313 The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Mental Health Disorders in a Danish General Population Study of Children 5-7-Years of Age

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence, cooccurrence and risk factors of mental health disorders in 5-7 year-old children in the general population.Materials and Methods: The study is a 5-7 years follow-up of the Danish birth cohort The Copenhagen Child Cohort, CCC2000, including 6,090 children from the general population. The cohort was screened for mental health problems by questionnaires to parents and pre-school teachers (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ). Screen positive children and a random sample of 1330 children were assessed by diagnostic interviews administered to parents and questionnaires to pre-schoolteachers (Developmental and Well-being Assessment, DAWBA). Data on peri-natal adversities, sociodemographic risk factors and hospital admissions were obtained from Danish National Registers.Results: The overall prevalence of mental health disorders in 5-7 years-old children was 4.4% (95%CI: 3.3-5.5). Emotional disorders were found in 2.0% children, behavioural disorders in 1.5% (95%CI: 0.9-2.2) and hyperkinetic disorder in 0.9% (95%CI: 0.4-1.4). The prevalence of pervasive developmental disorders was 1.0 (95%CI: 0.5-1.5). Nearly a third had co-occurrence of mental health diagnoses and the relative risk of having a mental health disorder was significantly higher in boys compared to girls:1.8 (95%CI:1.1 - 3.1).Preliminary results on early risk factors and predictors of mental health problems between birth and 7 years in CCC 2000 will be presented at the congress.