Psychological Problems in Children and Adolescents for whom Children's Services Department was Utilized

Abstract

Psychological Problems in Children and Adolescents for whom Children's Services Department was Utilized Previous research proved a greater prevalence of mental health problems among children in residential youth care. In the present study, based on the KiGGS study, the prevalence of mental health problems is analyzed using the German version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for those children and adolescents seeking youth welfare services, compared to those children not seeking youth welfare service. The possible differences between these two groups were tested using multivariate regression. The study covers two survey periods of KiGGS at intervals of six years. The result shows a significantly higher prevalence for mental health problems in adolescents seeking youth welfare services. The regression analysis shows that the association with mental health problems in these children persists even after adjusting for socioeconomic and demographic factors. There are hardly any changes in the results within the trend analysis. This indicates a high temporal stability of the association.