Child, family and community factors associated with child emotional and behavioural problems

During childhood and adolescence the family and social environments in which children live converge to increase the likelihood of income-related risk factors and the developmentof emotional and behavioural problems that continue into adulthood. The current studyexamined the associations among child and caregiver demographics including age and sex,physical and mental health of caregiver, physical health of child, family circumstancesincluding high- or low-income and housing, and the experience of child mental healthproblems such as depression and rule-breaking behaviours and simultaneously sought toevaluate whether connectedness to school served as a protective factor between low-incomeand child mental health problems. Participants in the current small cross-sectional studywere 56 children aged 11-17 years and their caregivers recruited from 3 Catholic schoolsand 6 Salvation Army Community Centres in Melbourne. Results showed that there was astrong association between low-income, poor child physical health, poor caregiver mentalhealth and child emotional and behavioural problems; and that high level of school connectedness was associated with decreases in symptoms. These results suggest that children from low-income families are particularly vulnerable to mental health problemsand are discussed in the context of positive development of children and adolescents.