Mental health articles

mental health epidemiology definition The prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents is not as well documented as it is for the
adult population. According to previous research and depending on diagnostic criteria, 10–20 percent of children and adolescents are estimated to have clinically significant mental disorders with at least mild functional impairment . In most studies, the conceptual definition of the “clinical significance” is taken into consideration. Barkmann and
Schulte-Markwort  distinguished three levels of hierarchy:
1. existence of psychological complaints
2. fulfillment of the diagnostic criteria for the determination
of a mental disorder (e. g., according to ICD-10)
3. fulfillment of a severity or impairment criterion.
Federal regulations in the USA define a sub-group of
mental disorders as “serious emotional disturbance” in
reference to children under the age of 18 with a diagnosable
mental disorder that severely disrupts the ability
to function socially, academically, and emotionally.
Finally, some studies use the classification “severe
psychopathology” (defined as the presence of multiple
mental disorders, i. e. ≥3). Different study designs and
measurements make comparisons of studies difficult.
The threshold of mental disorders may vary from culture to culture.
The MECA Study (Methodology for Epidemiology of
Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents) estimated
that > 20% of U.S. children aged 9 to 17 had a diagnosable
mental disorder. Preliminary results of the representative
German child and adolescent mental health
survey indicate that almost 22% of children show at
least psychological disturbances (Table 1).
The frequency of mental illnesses symptoms is negatively
associated with socioeconomic status. Parental
mental disorders, parental conflicts, and single parenthood
are risk factors for mental disorders in children.

Tags: epidemiology, Health, mental, Mental health