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Psychic problems in children. Follow‐up of the “Preschool children study”
Author(s) -
Kastrup M.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1980.tb07676.x
Subject(s) - psychic , psychology , mental health , persistence (discontinuity) , psychiatry , el niño , socioeconomic status , clinical psychology , pediatrics , developmental psychology , medicine , population , environmental health , alternative medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology , engineering
The prevalence of psychic problems in a random sample of children born in 1968 in the municipality of Aarhus and all children born in the same year on the island of Samsø was determined in 1974 and again four years later. Structured interviews of parents were used as the main source of information on the children's problems. A high prevalence of psychosomatic, behavioural and emotional symptoms was observed among the children on both occasions. Several symptoms occurred significantly more frequently in boys than in girls. Deviant behaviour was arbitrarily defined as a symptom that occurred in 10% or less of the children. The mental status of the children was assessed by the number of deviant symptoms, the opinions of the parents and the assessment of the investigator. Demographic and socio‐economic variables were analyzed and were related to the childrens’ mental health. Changes as well as persistence of symptoms are discussed.