Young Children's Mental Health Research Articles

Family functioning and child internalizing and externalizing problems: A 16-wave longitudinal study during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study explored young children's mental health trajectories during the pandemic (May 2020 to April 2021) as well as associations with family functioning (i.e., cohesion, conflict, chaos, and routines) using data reported by 204 parents (children Mage 5.49; 45% girls, 90% White). Children's internalizing problems decreased early on with the onset of the pandemic, but then leveled off, while no change in externalizing problems was found. Family conflict and chaos were significantly associated with internalizing and externalizing problems at the within- and between-family level, when examined independently. When family-level factors were evaluated simultaneously, family conflict emerged as a robust risk factor. Intervention efforts, specifically for families experiencing increased conflict, may help support the mental health needs of children.

DESKRIPSI DAMPAK BULLYING TERHADAP KESEHATAN MENTAL ANAK USIA DINI DI LINGKUNGAN SEKOLAH KECAMATAN SIPATANA KOTA GORONTALO

The objectives of this research are: (1) to describe the forms of bullying behavior in the school environment of sipatana subdistrict, gorontalo city, (2) to examine in depth the impact of bullying on the mental health of young children, and (3) to identify in schools. This research employed a qualitative method with a descriptive study type. The researcher used interview, observation, and documentation techniques to gather data. The data analysis technique was the interactive analysis of miles and huberman, which consisted of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing, for data validity checking, the researcher used triangulation. The research found that : (1) the forns of bullying behavior occurring in the school environment of sipatana subdistrict,gorontalo city, include verbal bullying (using harsh language towards peers) and relational bullying (such as ostracizing, ignoring, and humiliating): (2) the impact of bullying on mental helath includes victims becoming withdrawn, lacking self-confidence, isolating themselves, feeling inferior, and experiencing hindered development in cognitive and social relationships: (3) efforts by schools to reduce bullying behavior in the sipatana subdistrict school environment include involving parents, providing strong character education through learning activities, advising and reprimanding, providing, religious education, reflecting on the child, and motivating the child with various appreciations from educators and parents.

Parental multiple sclerosis, changes in family routine and mental health of young children

Introduction: Parental illness generates changes in family dynamics and in the mental health of all family members. Children of parents with chronic illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis face unique challenges, as they are forced to adapt to a new reality where parental illness limits the care and attention capabilities towards them. Methods: a systematic literature review was conducted using the PsycInfo, Scopus and Medline databases, with the equation "multiple sclerosis"; AND "family"; AND "parents"; AND "child parent relations", conducted in September 2022. Results: n = 26 studies were included. Children of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) present more adjustment problems, anxiety disorders and behavioral disturbances than controls. This distress is associated with factors such as parental physical and psychological comorbidity and changes within family roles. The level of risk varies in relation to factors such as support network, sex of the ill parent, time of exposure to the disease and the role of the healthy parent. Lack of access to information and support turns out to be a common complaint of young children. Conclusions: Most of the children living with parental illness present experiences alterations in their mental health and show a higher prevalence of psychological distress; however, this does not occur in all cases. The most predominant protective factors seem to be: parental adherence to treatment, and, above all, access to effective information in accordance with the level of understanding of the different populations involved.

Is the availability and quality of local early childhood education and care services associated with young children's mental health at school entry?

PurposeThis study investigated the relationship between geographic availability (and quality) of local early childhood education and care services and children's early mental health outcomes for all children entering their first year of full-time school in Melbourne, Australia. MethodsWe capitalise on a unique population linked dataset, the Australian Early Development Census – Built Environment, which combines geospatial measures of children's neighbourhoods with demographic information and child mental health outcomes for all school entrants in Australia's 21 most populous cities and towns. Objective early childhood education and care service location and quality exposures were developed for each study child based on home addresses. Four geographic availability exposures (counts within 3 km) were examined for cross-sectional associations with child mental health outcomes (externalising and internalising difficulties, competence). We estimated associations using multilevel logistic regression (Markov Chain Monte Carlo estimation) adjusting for child demographics and stratifying by urbanicity. ResultsChildren with higher counts of high-quality preschool services within 3 km of home had lower odds of difficulties and higher odds of competence. Overall, exposures were most consistently associated with children's competence. Across all outcomes, the most consistent patterning was observed for children living in the inner city and middle ring. Results varied depending on whether service quality was accounted for in measures of availability. Geographic availability of early childhood services showed patterning by neighbourhood disadvantage and by maternal education. ConclusionWe found some evidence that geographic availability of high-quality preschools was associated with better child mental health outcomes, but results varied by urbanicity. While future research is required to unpack these differences, these findings indicate the importance of accounting for both geographic availability and service quality simultaneously in future research, policy and practice.

Perceived Stress of Mothers, Harsh Discipline, and Early Childhood Mental Health: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study in Marginalized Roma Communities.

Objectives: This study aims to compare the early childhood mental health of children from marginalized Roma communities (MRCs) in Slovakia with that of the majority and explore possible mediating pathways of mothers' perceived stress and harsh discipline practices. Methods: We used data from the first wave of the longitudinal RomaREACH study collected in 2021-2022. Two populations were included in the sample: 94 mother-child dyads from MRCs and 79 from the majority population (children aged 14-18months). Data were analysed using linear regression, and mediation was tested using PROCESS Macro in SPSS. Results: Belonging to MRCs vs. the majority, perceived stress of mothers and harsh discipline were found to be associated with early mental health problems in children. Perceived stress of mothers partially mediates the relationship between belonging to MRCs vs. majority and harsh discipline and harsh discipline partially mediates the relationship between perceived stress of mothers and the mental health of children. Conclusion: Mothers from MRCs perceive more stress, which is associated with more frequent use of harsh discipline practices having a negative impact on the mental health of young children.

The impact of the pandemic on mothers and children, with a focus on syndemic effects on black families: the "Prenatal to Preschool" study protocol.

Racism, a known social determinant of health, affects the mental health and well-being of pregnant and postpartum women and their children. Convincing evidence highlights the urgent need to better identify the mechanisms and the ways in which young children's development and mental health are adversely impacted by their mothers' experiences of racism. With the additional stressor of the COVID-19 pandemic, the criticality of improving knowledge of these domains has never been starker. The proposed project will address these questions and move the field forward to create targeted, culturally informed preventative interventions, thus achieving mental health equity for all children and families. This prospective research is a cohort study that will longitudinally observe the outcomes of a cohort of mothers and their children recruited during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data will be parent/caregiver questionnaires assessing mental health, racism, support, and resilience at multiple time points with the first beginning at 24 months, clinical interviews with mothers, electronic medical records of mothers, and videotaped dyadic interactions at child age 24 and 48 months. A subset of Black participants will be asked to participate in qualitative interviews at child age 36 months. Analyze will be performed within and across Black and Non-Latino/a/e/x white (NLW) groups, and comparing mothers and fathers/secondary caregivers. Descriptive and multivariate analyzes will be run to better characterize how young children's development and mental health may be adversely impacted by their caregiver's experiences of racism. This prospective longitudinal mixed-methods study evaluates the simultaneous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and racism on mothers and their developing children to characterize cross-racial differences, providing insight into risk and resilience factors in early development and the peripartum period.

Analysis of the current status of children’s mental health

This paper systematically analyzes the current status of the mental health of young children, summarizing both the positive and negative aspects. It explores the underlying causes of these phenomena and proposes corresponding suggestions for improvement. Through a detailed analysis of the literature, the paper highlights how increasing attention and the popularization of mental health education have allowed more children to access mental health knowledge and counselling early on. Despite this progress, challenges persist due to modern lifestyle changes, rapid technological advancements, and urbanization, which negatively impact children’s mental health. Many children suffer from a lack of emotional support, high psychological pressure, and exposure to harmful information within their family and social environments. To address these issues, the paper emphasizes the need for improvements in family environments, societal support, and policies, as well as enhancements to the mental health service system. The recommendations include fostering better parent-child communication, using electronic devices judiciously, and creating supportive home environments. On a broader scale, it calls for stronger policy support, improved mental health services, and widespread mental health education.

Factors associated with mental health of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying societal measures have impacted children and their families all over the world. Little is known about the factors associated with mental health outcomes in young children (i.e., 1 to 6 years old) during the pandemic. The current study aimed to examine associations with potential risk and protective factors, i.e., direct COVID-19 exposure factors as well as within-family characteristics.MethodsCaregivers of children aged 1–6 years old were recruited in the Netherlands to participate in an ongoing longitudinal research project. In the current study, baseline data—collected during the 1st year of the pandemic—are reported. The final sample consisted of 2762 caregivers who answered questionnaires assessing negative and positive dimensions of their children’s mental health (i.e., anxiety, depressive symptoms, anger, sleep problems, positive affect, and self-regulation). Furthermore, caregivers provided information regarding: (1) Direct COVID-19 related factors, i.e., parental infection and death of a family member or close friend due to COVID-19, (2) Family related COVID-19 factors, i.e., parental perceived impact of the pandemic and COVID-19 related parent–child emotion regulation strategies (i.e., active, avoidant and information-focused strategies), (3) General caregiver’s distress, i.e., parental mental health, parental feelings of rejection towards their child. Regression analyses were used to examine associations with children’s mental health.ResultsDirect COVID-19 related factors were not associated with more mental health problems in the children, though parental COVID-19 infections were related with less anger in children. Family related COVID-19 factors and caregiver’s distress were related with children’s mental health. Higher parental perceived negative impact of the pandemic, lower parental perceived positive impact of the pandemic, more avoidant as well as more active and information-focused parent–child emotion regulation strategies, more caregiver’s mental health problems and more parental feelings of rejection towards their child were related with more mental health problems in the child.ConclusionDirect exposure to COVID-19 was not related with more mental health problems in the child. Family related COVID-19 factors and caregiver’s distress appear to play a more important role for young children’s mental health. Findings may inform prevention and intervention programs for potential future global crises as well as other stressful events.

Long-Term Effects of the Kumamoto Earthquake on Young Children’s Mental Health

Natural disasters cause numerous short- and long-term psychosocial effects on young children because of their increased vulnerability. This study aimed to examine the mental health of young children at 15 months after the Kumamoto earthquake. We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey on the parents of 363 children aged 4–6 years across Kumamoto Prefecture. The questionnaire items included current residence, housing damage and evacuation experience during the disaster, as well as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The results showed that children who could stay in their home during the disaster had lower percentages of scores in the clinical range for conduct problems (odds ratio [OR] = 0.33, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13–0.85) and hyperactivity/inattention (OR = 0.42, 95%CI: 0.19–0.93) on the SDQ. Furthermore, children who experienced living apart from their parents during the disaster had a higher percentage of scores in the clinical range for conduct problems (OR = 2.39, 95%CI: 1.05–5.42). At 15 months post-disaster, the mental health of the sample was worse than the normative data of Japan, indicating that the mental health of young children who experienced living at home and apart from their parents during the disaster was still affected.

Exploring Mental Health and Development in Refugee Children Through Systematic Play Assessment.

To evaluate a standardized play observation as a measure of young children's mental health and development in a clinical and refugee population. We conducted individual play observations with 70 refugee children aged 3- to 6-years and compared them to a clinical group of 111 age-matched children regarding their level of play development, social interaction during play, traumatic re-enactments, and emotionless-cold play. Additionally, we assessed children's mental health, social-emotional development and markers of adversity by parent and educator report as well as their IQ-test scores and learning performance and related these factors to the play variables. Play variables were significantly correlated with IQ-test scores (r = 0.184, p = 0.037), learning performance (r = 0.208, p = 0.010) and vocabulary (r = 0.208, p = 0.021) in the comparison group and with social-emotional development in educator report (r = 0.368, p = 0.011), time spent in Germany (r = 0.342, p < 0.001) and parental distress (r = -0.292, p = 0.034) in the refugee group. Children with more parent-reported adverse experiences showed less social-interactive play in the overall sample (r = -0.178, p = 0.011). Our child-centered approach to standardized play observation augments information obtained from parent and educator reports and can provide valuable insights in subgroups where other commonly used tests are not available or applicable.

Assistance for the Introduction of Aquatic Sports through Swimkids in Early Childhood

Water activities (special swimming for those who are proficient) have many benefits. Can be compared, children learn to walk on the floor with children learning to swim directly. The different is that one is on the floor and theother is in the water. Children who learn to walk on the floor only a few motor muscles that move. While swimming all the motor muscles move. This means that children who learn to swim from a young age certainly have better motor skill. Physical improvent is more advanced in children who do not swim. Apart from being physical, swimming also stimulates more sctivr hormone, such as the hormone adrenaline. So that the end result, the level the end result, the level of intelligence can also be high. In development countries preschool aquatic sports progrsm are more focused. Introducing motormodeic aspect for basic swimming skills. Children are not taught to survive indepentently in the water and enjoy the activites they do. Swimming skil can be acquired more readily at the age of 5 years. Although some children younger that 4 years require longer introduction to learn swimming skill. Physically the child will succed in doing swimming movements after the muscle fibers and nerves are mature. The purpose of this community service activity is to share experiences in water activities for children from an early age, that is, between the ages of 1 – 4 years it will be better for children to learn quickly, and avoid the possibility of having an accident drowning in a pool. Through mentoring activities for the introduction of aquatic sports through swimkids in early childhood at the Sumber Alam Dawung Kediri swimming pool, it is hoped that it will be able to improve the quality of physical and mental health of young children, especially in the Kediri environmen

Parental working memory buffers associations between COVID-19 hardships and child mental health

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impaired young children's mental health, underscoring the need for research on protective factors. Using a cross-sectional design, we examined whether parental working memory (WM) buffered relations between COVID-19 hardships (home-life, economic, and quarantine) and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Female parents (N = 339; 83.19% White/Caucasian, 8.85% Black/African American, 3.54% Asian, 1.47% Native American, and 2.36% mixed race; 7.67% Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity) of children 2–5-years-old reported COVID-19 hardships and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms and completed a backward digit span task to measure WM. All types of COVID-19 hardships were positively related to child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Higher parental WM weakened positive relations between all types of hardships and child internalizing symptoms, and between home-life and economic hardships and externalizing symptoms. Results suggest that parental WM, a malleable target for intervention, may buffer associations between the detrimental effects of COVID-19 and young children's mental health.

Relation between young children's anger and fathers' mental health during the COVID‐19 epidemic: Moderating role of gender and child number

AbstractThe father–child interaction deserves attention during the COVID‐19 epidemic. This study administrated the Child Anger Questionnaire and the SCL‐90 Symptom Checklist to collect primary data from 1862 fathers of Chinese young children during the COVID‐19 outbreak, examined the relation between young children's anger and their fathers' mental health, and verified whether the relation was moderated by the gender or the child number. The results demonstrated that the detection rate of anger among Chinese young children was 60.08%, the scores of SCL‐90 factors of their fathers were significantly lower than the Chinese normal adult male norms and those of infant parents, and the anger of young children had a significant effect on their fathers' mental health. Gender and child number moderated this relation. It is of great significance to strengthen the attention to the anger of young children and the mental health of fathers during the period of public health emergencies, and to promote the harmonious interpersonal relationship between young children and their fathers.

Chinese version of Dominic Interactive - A self-report video game for assessing mental health in young children.

Assess the validity of the Chinese version of the Dominic Interactive (DI), a 91-item, video-based diagnostic screening instrument for children that assesses four internalized disorders (phobias, separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depressive disorder) and three externalized disorders (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder). (1) Compare DI-generated "probable" or "possible" diagnoses to diagnoses based on the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) instrument in 113 psychiatric outpatients and 20 community controls. (2) Administer DI to 1,479 children from elementary schools in Tianjin. In the validation sample, DI with DAWBA concordance was much greater for internalized disorders (mean Kappa = 0.56) than for externalized disorders (mean kappa = 0.11). The positive predictive value of DI diagnoses ranged from 0.96 (generalized anxiety disorder) to 25% (oppositional defiant disorder) and negative from 0.81 to 0.96. Using "probable" cuts provides better results. In the survey, prevalence of probable DI disorders ranged from 1.0% (conduct disorder) to 13.1% (phobias). Internal consistency of all DI items was excellent (Cronbach alpha = 0.93) and that of the seven subscales ranged from 0.64 (phobias) to 0.87 (major depressive disorder). In multilevel SEM analyses, SRMR (Standardized root mean square residual) or each of the seven diagnoses was below 0.08 and each coefficient of determination was below 0.60. The Chinese DI is a convenient method of screening common mental disorders in Chinese children mainly for internalized disorders, which are the most prevalent diagnoses in that population. However its high negative predictive values for externalized could be used for screening.

Changes in UK pre-schooler's mental health symptoms overthe first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Data from Co-SPYCE study.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption to the lives of children and their families. Pre-school children may have been particularly vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic, with the closure of childcare facilities, playgrounds, playcentres and parent and toddler groups limiting their opportunities for social interaction at a crucial stage of development. Additionally, for parents working from home, caring for pre-school aged children who require high levels of support and care, was likely challenging. We conducted an intensive longitudinal, but not nationally representative, study to examine trajectories of pre-schoolers' mental symptoms in the United Kingdom during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. UK-based parents and carers (n=1520) of pre-school-aged children (2-4years) completed monthly online surveys about their pre-schoolers' mental health between April 2020 and March 2021. The survey examined changes in children's emotional symptoms, conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention. In our final mixed-effects models, our predictors (fixed effects) accounted for 5% of the variance in each of conduct problems, emotional symptoms and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms scores, and the combined random and fixed effects accounted for between 64% and 73% of the variance. Pre-schoolers' emotional problems and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms declined from April through summer 2020 and then increased again during the autumn and winter 2020/2021 as lockdowns were re-introduced. Pre-schoolers who attended childcare showed greater decline in symptom severity than those who did not. Older children, compared to younger, showed greater lability of emotion symptom severity. Attending childcare predicted lower symptom severity across all three domains of conduct problems, emotional symptoms, and hyperactivity/inattention, while the opposite pattern was observed for children whose parent had a mental health problem. Our findings reinforce the importance of examining pre-schoolers' mental health in the context of micro and macro-level factors. Interventions focussing on family factors such as parent mental health, as well as continued provision of childcare, may have most potential to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on young children's mental health.

Young Children's Mental Health Improves Following Medicaid Expansion to Low-Income Adults.

We investigate whether the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, implemented in 2014, improved the mental health of young children whose parents are in the policy's target population. We study children ages 2 to 3 in families with incomes less than 138% of the federal poverty level. We use restricted National Health Interview Survey data covering the United States from 2010 to 2018 to conduct an event study-a flexible version of difference-in-differences-of the Medicaid expansion's effects on Mental Health Indicator values for young children. We estimate effects using ordered logit regression. Children's mental health was statistically significantly better in Medicaid expansion states, compared with non-expansion states, in 3 of 4 post-expansion years. There were no differences between expansion and non-expansion states in the pre-expansion period, lending support to the causal interpretation that the expansion improved children's mental health. While Medicaid expansion targets low-income adults, our evidence indicates it improves low-income children's mental health. The expansion is a two-generation investment in prevention. It helps lay a foundation for strong mental health in children's early years and beyond.

In Crisis : Early Detection of Young Children’s Mental Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

The Covid-19 pandemic has an impact on every aspect of human life, one of which is the mental health of the children. There are drastic changes in the child's life cycle and activities that cause mood fluctuations, feelings of sadness, fear, that cause excessive stress reactions. The Covid-19 pandemic is a difficult situation for children, even the impact affects their future. Therefore, there is a need for early detection to track children's mental health. This research aimed to inform teachers' in Bekasi city of their understanding of children's mental health conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of this research is that teachers will have skills in early detection of mental health in children. The method employed descriptive analysis and used survey methods, and questionnaires in collecting the data. The results of this study reveal that early detection knowledge is very important to be understood by teachers as a preventive step in preventing young children's mental health disorders in the future, so that children can be productive and active again to live their lives

Home quarantines and cumulative risk exposure among young children: Isolation and maladaptation.

Self-isolation and quarantine are common and effective measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, it may have detrimental implications on young children's adaptation and mental health. The present study explores the prevalence of home quarantines among young children in Israel and their associations with children's maladaptive behaviors. The analysis is based on self-reported data obtained by 374 parents of young children in November 2021. Participants completed questionnaires, assessing the prevalence of home quarantines among children (aged 3-11 years old), and maladaptive behaviors, including rage outbursts, physical violence against family or friends, and panic attacks. Multivariate regression models were used to determine the relationships between the number of child quarantines and their maladaptive behaviors. Our results suggest that 51% of parents reported having their child quarantined more than once, which did not differ across socioeconomic characteristics. Furthermore, 66% of parents reported that during the pandemic, their child exhibited maladaptive behaviors at least once. Children who were quarantined more than once were more likely to exhibit rage outbursts, physical violence, and/or panic attacks. The associations between children's quarantine and physical violence were slightly stronger among families living in high-density households. Repeated experiences of home quarantine may operate as exposure to accumulative risk and have a lasting effect on young children's development. Practice and policy recommendations for interventions for young children and their families who experience home quarantines are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

In Case You Haven't Heard…

Clinical psychologist Dr. Donna Housman, Ed.D., has launched the first two books in her children's book series that supports young children's mental health by helping them address and process difficult emotions through storytelling, Businesswire reported Nov.17. Housman is a founding executive board member and treasurer of the Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health, a subchapter of the World Association for Infant Mental Health. The ECSELent Adventures series features fun, relatable, and diverse animal characters who experience various life challenges, such as loss and exclusion, as a way to foster positive, age‐appropriate conversations about difficult topics. Each book includes tips and guiding questions for the reader to help connect the topics to children's experiences while exploring the many emotions that come from challenging situations. As a clinical psychologist with more than 35 years of experience, Housman began her career working with children and adolescents on issues such as anxiety, depression and suicide. Her globally recognized evidence‐based emotional, cognitive and social early learning approach, begin to ECSEL™, promotes healthy brain development and a positive sense of self from birth.

The Need for Performance Standards in Preschools: Stealing Shamelessly from Comprehensive School Mental Health Literature

Young children are at-risk for developing significant mental health difficulties just as their older, school-aged peers. Preschool settings have increasingly attempted to proactively address early childhood socioemotional needs by expanding their prevention and intervention activities. A number of emerging best practices in promoting early childhood mental health have been proposed. However, there are no comprehensive performance standards for preschool mental health and limited guidance on how preschools can align themselves with best practices. This expansion in service scope parallels the development of Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems in K-12 schools. Resources and tools developed for K-12 educational settings may serve as a useful example for preschool mental health systems interested in quality comprehensive mental health care. This conceptual article will describe the prevalence of mental health difficulties in young children, review the current guidance on supporting mental health in young children, and provide support for adapting widely used K-12 school mental health performance standards to establish comprehensive standards for organizing and implementing high quality care systems in preschool settings.