Mental health problems in students and in their parents or guardians: a prevalence study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of mental health problems in students in the fi rst cycle of elementary school and in their parents or guardians. Moreover,
this study investigates the possible relationships between parental health problems and the mental health of children. A total of 321 parents or guardians of students from public schools in the town of São Carlos participated in this survey. Both the Strengths and
Diffi culties Questionnaire, for the assessment of mental health of children, and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, to measure parental emotional distress were used. The gathered data were analyzed by using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney. It was found that 43% of children scored above the clinical cut-off level on SDQ and 63% of parents or guardians had at least one mental disorder. The results also indicated signifi cant differences between the groups and thus the child had signifi cantly higher SDQ scores when his or her mother or father suffered some emotional distress. The study showed evidence of parental mental health issues as a risk factor for child mental health and indicates that there is a need for public policies and procedures for the prevention of mental disorders, promoting the mental health and psychological well- being of children and adults.