Self-reported fears and mental health in elementary school children across Europe

Fears are common in the general population and particularly among children. The number of fear subtypes (animals, natural environment, situational, blood-injection-injury or other type) has been shown to be associated with psychopathology. Furthermore, there is evidence suggesting that some subtypes may be more often associated with mental disorders than others. The present study uses data from a large cross sectional survey, the School Children Mental Health in Europe (SCMHE) study, conducted in eight European countries on children ages 6 through 13-years-old attending elementary school (n = 9613). Fear subtypes and self-reported mental health were assessed using the Dominic Interactive (DI), a self-administered computerized image-based questionnaire. The findings show that the number of fear subtypes is strongly associated with self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. In addition, adjusting for the number of subtypes, fear of animals was less likely than other fears to be associated with psychopathology. The findings support the notion that children who report excessive and generalized fear should be targeted for prevention, consistent with research identifying childhood onset generalized specific phobia as a probable precursor to subsequent psychopathology.

Risk factors for child mental health problems in Lithuania: The role of parental nationality

BACKGROUND

We compare the mental health status of children who reside in Lithuania with parents who are either Lithuanian nationals or non-Lithuanian nationals.

METHOD

Data were drawn from the School Child Mental Health Europe survey (SCMHE), a cross-sectional survey of school children aged 6-11years. A total of 1152 Lithuanian children participated, among them 11.7% from a non-Lithuanian family. Child mental health was assessed using the Dominique Interactive (DI) and the parent- and teacher Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Parental attitudes were evaluated, and socio-demographics were collected.

RESULTS

Overall 26.7% of non-Lithuanian versus 17.2% of Lithuanian children reported having an internalizing disorder (p=0.01) mainly due to separation anxiety (16.4% versus 10.2%, p=0.04). Odds ratio (OR) for child-reported internalizing disorders was 1.86 (95% CI=1.17-2.96) once adjusted for other factors including being a girl, to be younger, parental unemployment and low caring and low autonomy parental attitudes which were associated with greater odds of internalizing disorders. In addition, 31.9% of non-Lithuanian reported suicidal thoughts versus 22.0% of Lithuanian children p=.02); OR=1.60 (95% CI=1.04-2.46) once adjusted for single parent, parental unemployment, parental alcohol problems and overreactivity attitude.

CONCLUSIONS

Being a non-national minority in Lithuania is a risk factor for child mental health. These findings suggest that further studies are needed to inform local policy-makers on targeted prevention and intervention programs in these children.