丁香园AV

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Most children with a mental health disorder are not receiving services to address their needs鈥攁ccording to a new study from researchers at 丁香园AV鈥檚 Children鈥檚 Health Policy Centre. Their research was    

Researchers found that of the one in eight children (12.7 per cent) who experience mental disorders, less than half (44.2 per cent) receive any services for these conditions. 

鈥淲e have illuminated an invisible crisis in children鈥檚 mental health and unacceptable service shortfalls in high-income countries 鈥� including in Canada 鈥� to a degree that violates children鈥檚 rights,鈥� says study author Charlotte Waddell, an 丁香园AV health sciences professor and centre director. 

鈥淢any countries will need to substantially increase, and protect, their children鈥檚 mental health budgets. This is particularly urgent given documented increases in children鈥檚 mental health needs since COVID-19鈥攏eeds which are predicted to continue.鈥�

Using systematic review methods, the researchers examined 14 prevalence surveys conducted in 11 high-income countries that included a total of 61,545 children aged four to 18 years. Eight of the 14 studies also assessed service contacts. The 14 surveys were conducted between 2003 and 2020 in Canada as well as the US, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Great Britain, Israel, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea and Taiwan.

Researchers note that mental health service provision lags behind services available to treat physical conditions in most of these countries. 鈥淲e would not find it acceptable to treat only 44 per cent of children who had cancer or diabetes or infectious diseases,鈥� says Waddell.

Early support is important

The costs of not providing adequate childhood mental healthcare are also high. Mental health disorders typically begin in childhood and adolescence and if not prevented or treated early, they significantly interfere with wellbeing and development鈥攚ith the impact extending across the lifespan.

This study found that the most common childhood mental disorders were anxiety (5.2 per cent), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (3.7 per cent), oppositional defiant disorder (e.g., argumentative behaviour) (3.3 per cent), substance use disorder (e.g., problematic use of alcohol or cannabis) (2.3 per cent), conduct disorder (1.3 per cent) and depression (1.3 per cent). 

Crucially, Waddell says effective treatments are well known for all of these disorders, as are effective prevention programs, 鈥渟o we know how to help children.鈥�

The study was funded by the British Columbia Ministry for Children and Family Development, Child and Youth Mental Health Branch.

Jen Barican and Donna Yung, lead author and second author respectively, are both Faculty of Health Sciences alumni (MPH and BSc graduates respectively).