Research from the University of Adelaide shows that although mental health screening of children at ages 4-5 can help to predict mental health problems in future years, only a quarter of children can be accurately identified with such screening.
The study was aimed at testing the accuracy of potential screening measures to identify children 'at risk' of developing school-related mental health problems in the future. The study used data from more than 2100 children who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children when they were aged 4-5 and 6-7 years.
"In 2011, it was proposed that the Healthy Kids Check in Australia be extended to include screening for early signs of mental health problems, and this has caused some controversy both within academic circles and the general community," says lead author of the paper, Dr Alyssa Sawyer, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the University's School of Population Health.
"The difficulty of accurately identifying young children at risk for future mental health problems poses a major challenge, especially for the implementation of effective, targeted intervention programs," she says.
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Category(s):Child and/or Adolescent Issues, Child Development
Source material from Medical Xpress
