Title
Area deprivation and child psychosocial problems. A national cross-sectional study among school-aged children
Author
Reijneveld, S.A.
Brugman, E.
Verhulst, F.C.
Verloove-Vanhorick, S.P.
Publication year
2005
Abstract
Background. We examined the association of area deprivation with the occurrence of psychosocial problems among children aged 4-16 in a representative national sample of children based on standardised measures of parent-reported problems and diagnoses made by doctors and nurses working in child healthcare (child health professionals, CHPs). Methods. The study comprised 4480 children aged 4-16 years, eligible for a routine health assessment (response: 90.1 %), in 19 Child Healthcare Services across the Netherlands that routinely provided preventive child healthcare to nearly all school-aged children. Parents completed the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). CHPs examined the child and interviewed parents and child during their routine health assessments. Main outcome measures concerned psychosocial problems as reported by parents (i. e. a clinical score on the CBCL) and as identified by CHPs. Results. Prevalence rates of psychosocial problems were 8.6% for parent-reported problems and 10.1 % for CHP-identified problems. They were much higher in the most deprived third of the areas. Odds ratios (95 % confidence intervals) compared with the least deprived third were 1.93 (1.41-2.64) regarding parent-reported problems and 1.76 (1.30-2.38) regarding CHP-identified problems. Regarding parent reports, associations were slightly stronger for behavioural problems than for emotional problems. Less than a quarter of the area differences could be explained by individual and family characteristics. Conclusions. Child psychosocial problems occur more frequently in deprived areas. Both preventive and curative health services should be better equipped for this concentration of child and adolescent morbidity in deprived areas. © Steinkopff Verlag 2005.
Subject
Health
Area deprivation
Child health
Mental health
Multilevel
Socio-economic factors
Behavior disorder
Child behavior
Child health care
Child psychiatry
Clinical examination
Disease association
Emotional disorder
Family life
Health care quality
Health practitioner
Interview
Major clinical study
Medical assessment
Morbidity
Outcomes research
Parental behavior
Poverty
Prevalence
Psychosocial disorder
Scoring system
Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Mental Disorders
Netherlands
Psychosocial Deprivation
Questionnaires
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-005-0850-0
TNO identifier
238302
ISSN
0933-7954
Source
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 40 (1), 18-23
Document type
article