Abstract

Background: Childhood mental illness is a major factor of overall lifespan of children continuing into adulthood. Population based surveys and public health surveillance provide the much needed evidence to understand mental health promotion, prevention, and treatment of mental illness in children in the United States. Objective: To review available current national survey data regarding mental illness in children over the past decade and to review the global implications of childhood mental illness. Results: Altogether, 13% - 20% of children experienced a mental health disorder from 1994 to 2011. The prevalence of depression among children of 3 - 17 years old was 3% and the prevalence of lifetime and past year major depressive episode were 12.8% and 8.1% respectively among adolescents of 12 - 17 years old, with a prevalence of depression in the preceding 2 weeks of 6.7%. 7.1% of children of 12 - 17 years old ever had a diagnosis of depression, 3.5% had current depression and 5.1% had a diagnosis of depression in the past year. Overall, 28.5% of high school students of 14 - 18 years old reported feeling so sad or hopeless every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing usual activities, higher among girls (35.9%) than boys (21.5%), and greater in Hispanic students (32.6%) than white non-Hispanic (27.2%) or black non-Hispanic students (24.7%). The overall rate of suicide in children in 2010 was 4.5 per 100,000. Conclusions: Mental illness presents serious departures from the expected cognitive, social, and emotional development in children, and an important area for prevention in the U.S. and globally. Mental illness will be managed effectively when there is adequate access to treatment services to reduce its associated morbidity and mortality.

Highlights

  • Mental illness refers to all diagnosed mental disorders characterized by sustained, abnormal alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior associated with distress and impaired functioning [1] [2]

  • The prevalence of depression among children age 3 - 17 years was 3% according to the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) whereas the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) estimated the prevalence of lifetime and past year major depressive episode (MDE) to be 12.8% and 8.1% respectively among adolescents age 12 - 17 years, with a prevalence of depression in the preceding 2 weeks of 6.7%

  • The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) reported that 28.5% of high school students age 14 - 18 years reported feeling so sad or hopeless every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing usual activities, higher among girls (35.9%) than boys (21.5%), and greater in Hispanic students (32.6%) than white non-Hispanic (27.2%) or black non-Hispanic students (24.7%)

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Summary

Introduction

Mental illness refers to all diagnosed mental disorders characterized by sustained, abnormal alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior associated with distress and impaired functioning [1] [2]. Surveillance studies of mental illness are necessary to provide a more complete picture of the prevalence of mental disorders among children and to promote mental health. This study was performed to assess recent surveillance and survey information of the domestic and global epidemiology of childhood mental illness over the past decade using standard case definitions of mental disorders among school age children. Population based surveys and public health surveillance provide the much needed evidence to understand mental health promotion, prevention, and treatment of mental illness in children in the United States. Objective: To review available current national survey data regarding mental illness in children over the past decade and to review the global implications of childhood mental illness. Conclusions: Mental illness presents serious departures from the expected cognitive, social, and emotional development in children, and an important area for prevention in the U.S and globally. Mental illness will be managed effectively when there is adequate access to treatment services to reduce its associated morbidity and mortality

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