Curbing children’s mental health inequities demands a coordinated approach, featuring multiple complementary measures across various environments in which children develop. Two significant areas contributing early to mental health are the family and access to education. As outlined in the study “Addressing Child Mental Health Inequities Through Parental Mental Health and Preschool Attendance,” there are noteworthy positives to promote, but the results are moderate at best. This study took place in Australia, where the authors drew on an ongoing nationally representative sample of 5,107 infants, starting in 2004. They found that children experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage at age 0- 1 year were nearly twice as likely to experience mental health symptoms at age 10-11 years than their non-disadvantaged peers. Disadvantaged children were also more likely to have a parent experiencing psychological distress (14.8 vs. 8.5%) and less likely to attend preschool (60.9 vs. 69.3%). Using an interventional effects approach, researchers estimated the extent to which inequities in children’s mental health problems could be reduced by improving disadvantaged children’s parental mental health and their preschool attendance. Results of the study show improving the mental health of parents, and – to a lesser extent – preschool attendance, among socioeconomically disadvantaged children in early childhood may reduce some of the existing inequities in children’s mental health problems, especially when they work in concordance. But the new research, published in the May 2023 issue of Pediatrics (published online April 3), also reveals even with the maximum benefit scenario applied to all children, the reductions in children’s mental health inequities are modest. This is why a broader, multipronged approach is required, according to the study authors. Researchers suggest targeted policy interventions that improve parents’ mental health and preschool attendance for disadvantaged children should operate alongside other services and initiatives including addressing socioeconomic disadvantage itself.
###
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.