Supplementary information files for article Addressing child mental health inequities through parental mental health and preschool attendance
Supplementary information files for article Addressing child mental health inequities through parental mental health and preschool attendance
Background
Prevention is key to reducing socioeconomic inequities in children’s mental health problems, especially given limited availability and accessibility of services supporting treatment. We investigated the potential to reduce these inequities for disadvantaged children by improving parental mental health and preschool attendance in early childhood.
Methods
Data from the nationally representative birth cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (N=5107, commencing in 2004) were used to examine the impact of socioeconomic disadvantage (0-1 year) on children’s mental health problems (10-11 years). Using an interventional effects approach, we estimated the extent to which inequities in children’s mental health problems could be reduced by improving disadvantaged children’s parental mental health (4-5 years) and their preschool attendance (4-5 years).
Results
Disadvantaged children had a higher prevalence of elevated mental health symptoms (32.8%) compared with their non-disadvantaged peers (18.7%): confounder-adjusted difference in prevalence=11.6% (95% CI: 7.7%-15.4%). Improving disadvantaged children’s parental mental health and their preschool attendance to the level of their non-disadvantaged peers could reduce 6.5% and 0.3% of socioeconomic differences in child mental health problems, respectively (equivalent to 0.8% and 0.04% absolute reductions). If these interventions were delivered in combination, a 10.8% (95% CI: 6.9% to 14.7%) higher prevalence of elevated symptoms would remain for disadvantaged children.
Conclusions
Targeted policy interventions that improve parent mental health and preschool attendance for disadvantaged children are potential opportunities to reduce socioeconomic inequities in children’s mental health problems. Such interventions should be considered within a broader, sustained, and multipronged approach that includes addressing socioeconomic disadvantage itself.
Funding
Changing children’s chances: Exploring pathways to developmental inequities
Australian Research Council
Find out more...Child health and developmental inequities: Evidence for precision policy
Australian Research Council
Find out more...Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program
Changing Children's Chances: A research based framework to address child health inequity
National Health and Medical Research Council
Find out more...Statistical methods for modelling the pathways between cause and effect
Australian Research Council
Find out more...Building Resilience to Support Healthy Families and Children
National Health and Medical Research Council
Find out more...Spanish State Research Agency and the European Regional Development Fund (grant number ECO2016-76506-C4-2-R)
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University VC Senior Research Fellowship
Melbourne Children’s LifeCourse initiative, funded by a Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Grant (grant number 2018-984
History
School
- Social Sciences and Humanities
Department
- Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy