Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Trends in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Prevalence, Outcomes, and Inequalities

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents

Part of the book series: Mental Health and Illness Worldwide ((MHIW))

Abstract

Child and adolescent mental health problems are common and have serious impacts on wellbeing, relationships, education, and long-term health. A public health priority is to reduce the burden associated with mental health problems. This chapter considers changes in the population prevalence of child and adolescent mental health problems, in outcomes for children with mental health problems, and factors that might have contributed to mental health trends. Robust epidemiological evidence suggests some major changes in prevalence over time. Converging evidence points to increasing rates of adolescent emotional disorders. The contribution of socio-economic inequalities, lifestyle changes, social relationships, and family risk is considered. The chapter concludes by highlighting priorities for future research – there is currently limited evidence on child mental health trends in lower- and middle-income countries. There is also a need to develop and apply robust methodologies in time trends research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson JK et al (2018) A systematic review of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of school-based identification of children and young people at risk of, or currently experiencing mental health difficulties. Psychol Med 49:9–19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arseneault L, Bowes L, Shakoor S (2010) Bullying victimization in youths and mental health problems: ‘much ado about nothing’? Psychol Med 40(5):717–729

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Azzopardi PS, Hearps SJ, Francis KL, Kennedy EC, Mokdad AH, Kassebaum NJ, …, Dogra S (2019) Progress in adolescent health and wellbeing: tracking 12 headline indicators for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016. Lancet 393:1101

    Google Scholar 

  • Blomqvist I, Henje Blom E, Hägglöf B, Hammarström A (2019) Increase of internalized mental health symptoms among adolescents during the last three decades. Eur J Public Health 29:925

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom DE, Cafiero E, Jané-Llopis E et al (2011) The global economic burden of noncommunicable diseases. World Economic Forum, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Bor W, Dean AJ, Najman J, Hayatbakhsh R (2014) Are child and adolescent mental health problems increasing in the 21st century? A systematic review. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 48(7):606–616

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chester KL, Callaghan M, Cosma A, Donnelly P, Craig W, Walsh S, Molcho M (2015) Cross-national time trends in bullying victimization in 33 countries among children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 2002 to 2010. Eur J Public Health 25(Suppl_2):61–64

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chisholm D, Sweeny K, Sheehan P et al (2016) Scaling-up treatment of depression and anxiety: a global return on investment analysis. Lancet Psychiatr 3:415–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chorin E, Hassidim A, Hartal M, Havakuk O, Flint N, Ziv-Baran T, Arbel Y (2015) Trends in adolescents obesity and the association between BMI and blood pressure: a cross-sectional study in 714,922 healthy teenagers. Am J Hypertens 28(9):1157–1163

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collishaw S (2015) Annual research review: secular trends in child and adolescent mental health. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 56(3):370–393

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collishaw S, Maughan B, Goodman R, Pickles A (2004) Time trends in adolescent mental health. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 45(8):1350–1362

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collishaw S, Gardner F, Maughan B, Scott J, Pickles A (2012) Do historical changes in parent–child relationships explain increases in youth conduct problems? J Abnorm Child Psychol 40(1):119–132

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collishaw S, Furzer E, Thapar AK, Sellers R (2019) Brief report: a comparison of child mental health inequalities in three UK population cohorts. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 28:1547–1549

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies S (2014) Annual report of the chief medical officer 2013, public mental health priorities: investing in the evidence. Department of Health, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Duinhof EL, Stevens GW, Van Dorsselaer S, Monshouwer K, Vollebergh WA (2015) Ten-year trends in adolescents’ self-reported emotional and behavioral problems in the Netherlands. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 24(9):1119–1128

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elgar FJ, Pförtner TK, Moor I, De Clercq B, Stevens GW, Currie C (2015) Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health 2002–2010: a time-series analysis of 34 countries participating in the health behaviour in school-aged children study. Lancet 385(9982):2088–2095

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Erskine HE, Baxter AJ, Patton G, Moffitt TE, Patel V, Whiteford HA, Scott JG (2017) The global coverage of prevalence data for mental disorders in children and adolescents. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci 26(4):395–402

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frøyland LR, von Soest T (2018) Trends in the perpetration of physical aggression among Norwegian adolescents 2007–2015. J Youth Adolesc 47(9):1938–1951

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman R, Iervolino AC, Collishaw S, Pickles A, Maughan B (2007) Seemingly minor changes to a questionnaire can make a big difference to mean scores: a cautionary tale. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 42(4):322–327

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Her Majesty’s Treasury (2003) Every child matters (green paper). The Stationery Office, Norwich

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessel Schneider S, O’Donnell L, Smith E (2015) Trends in cyberbullying and school bullying victimization in a regional census of high school students, 2006–2012. J Sch Health 85(9):611–620

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King G, Murray CJL, Salomon JA, Tandon A (2004) Enhancing the validity and cross-cultural comparability of measurement in survey research. Am Polit Sci Rev 98(1):567–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klinger DA, Freeman JG, Bilz L, Liiv K, Ramelow D, Sebok SS, …, Rasmussen M (2015) Cross-national trends in perceived school pressure by gender and age from 1994 to 2010. Eur J Public Health 25(Suppl_2):51–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Lempinen L, Junttila N, Sourander A (2018) Loneliness and friendships among eight-year-old children: time-trends over a 24-year period. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 59(2):171–179

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lundström S, Reichenberg A, Anckarsäter H, Lichtenstein P, Gillberg C (2015) Autism phenotype versus registered diagnosis in Swedish children: prevalence trends over 10 years in general population samples. BMJ 350:h1961

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Marmot M, Allen J, Goldblatt P et al (2010) Fair society, healthy lives. The Marmot review. The Marmot Review, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Medical Research Council (2014) Maximising the value of UK population cohorts. MRC strategic review of the largest UK population cohort studies. MRC, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishina, K., Tiiri, E., Lempinen, L., Sillanmäki, L., Kronström, K., & Sourander, A. (2018) Time trends of Finnish adolescents’ mental health and use of alcohol and cigarettes from 1998 to 2014. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 27:1633–1643

    Google Scholar 

  • Mojtabai R, Olfson M, Han B (2016) National trends in the prevalence and treatment of depression in adolescents and young adults. Pediatrics 138(6):e20161878

    Google Scholar 

  • MQ (2019) UK mental health research funding 2014–2017. https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/www.joinmq.org/UK+Mental+Health+Research+Funding+2014-2017+digital.pdf. Accessed 13 Apr 2019

  • Murray J, de Castro Cerqueira DR, Kahn T (2013) Crime and violence in Brazil: systematic review of time trends, prevalence rates and risk factors. Aggress Violent Behav 18(5):471–483

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nygren K, Hagquist C (2017) Self-reported school demands and psychosomatic problems among adolescents–changes in the association between 1988 and 2011?. Scand J Public Health 47:174–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Olfson M, Druss BG, Marcus SC (2015) Trends in mental health care among children and adolescents. N Engl J Med 372(21):2029–2038

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patalay P, Gage SH (2019) Changes in millennial adolescent mental health and health-related behaviours over 10 years: a population cohort comparison study. Int J Epidemiol 48:1650

    Google Scholar 

  • Patel V et al (2018) The Lancet commission on global mental health and sustainable development. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31612-X. Published Online October 9, 2018

  • Patton GC et al (2016) Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. Lancet 387:2423–2478

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson RM, Carnegie RE, Cree C, Rollings C, Rena-Jones L, Evans J, …, Lawlor DA (2018) Prevalence of prenatal depression symptoms among 2 generations of pregnant mothers: the Avon longitudinal study of parents and children. JAMA Netw Open 1(3):e180725–e180725

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitchforth J, Fahy K, Ford T, Wolpert M, Viner RM, Hargreaves DS (2018) Mental health and well-being trends among children and young people in the UK, 1995–2014: analysis of repeated cross-sectional national health surveys. Psychol Med 49:1275–1285

    Google Scholar 

  • Polanczyk GV, Salum GA, Sugaya LS, Caye A, Rohde LA (2015) Annual research review: a meta-analysis of the worldwide prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 56(3):345–365

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (2017) State of child health. Report 2017. RCPCH, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadler K, Vizard T, Ford T, Marchesell F, Pearce N, Mandalia D, …, Goodman R (2018) Mental health of children and young people in England, 2017 https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-peoplein-england/2017/2017

  • Salas-Wright CP, Nelson EJ, Vaughn MG, Reingle Gonzalez JM, Córdova D (2017) Trends in fighting and violence among adolescents in the United States, 2002–2014. Am J Public Health 107(6):977–982

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sawyer MG, Reece CE, Sawyer AC, Johnson SE, Lawrence D (2018) Has the prevalence of child and adolescent mental disorders in Australia changed between 1998 and 2013 to 2014? J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 57(5):343–350

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schepman K, Collishaw S, Gardner F, Maughan B, Scott J, Pickles A (2011) Do changes in parent mental health explain trends in youth emotional problems? Soc Sci Med 73(2):293–300

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sellers R, Warne N, Pickles A, Maughan B, Thapar A, Collishaw S (2019) Cross-cohort change in adolescent outcomes for children with mental health problems. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. Online first 60:813–821

    Google Scholar 

  • Seltzer JA (2019) Family change and changing family demography. Demography 56:405–426

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuckler D, Reeves A, Loopstra R et al (2017) Austerity and health: the impact in the UK and Europe. Eur J Pub Health 27(4):18–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweeting H, West P, Young R, Der G (2010) Can we explain increases in young people’s psychological distress over time? Soc Sci Med 71(10):1819–1830

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • The Lancet (2013) Editorial closing the killer gap in children’s health inequality. Lancet 382:914

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorisdottir IE, Asgeirsdottir BB, Sigurvinsdottir R, Allegrante JP, Sigfusdottir ID (2017) The increase in symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood among Icelandic adolescents: time trend between 2006 and 2016. Eur J Public Health 27(5):856–861

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tiiri E, Luntamo T, Mishina K, Sillanmäki L, Brunstein-Klomek A, Sourander A (2019) Did bullying victimization decrease after nationwide school-based anti-bullying program? A time-trend study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2019.03.023

  • Tully EC, Iacono WG, McGue M (2008) An adoption study of parental depression as an environmental liability for adolescent depression and childhood disruptive disorders. Am J Psychiatr 165(9):1148–1154

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Twenge JM, Joiner TE, Rogers ML, Martin GN (2018) Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among US adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen time. Clin Psychol Sci 6(1):3–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) (2018) Levels and trends in child mortality: report 2018, estimates developed by the United Nations inter-agency group for child mortality estimation. United Nations Children’s Fund, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • UNODC (2016) World crime trends and emerging issues and responses in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice (E/CN.15/2016/10)

    Google Scholar 

  • van Vuuren CL, Uitenbroek DG, Van der Wal MF, Chinapaw MJ (2018) Sociodemographic differences in 10-year time trends of emotional and behavioural problems among adolescents attending secondary schools in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry, online first 27:1621–1631

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Soest A, Delaney L, Harmon C, Kapteyn A, Smith JP (2011) Validating the use of anchoring vignettes for the correction of response scale differences in subjective questions. J R Stat Soc Ser A Stat Soc 174(3):575–595

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • West P, Sweeting H (2003) Fifteen, female and stressed: changing patterns of psychological distress over time. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 44(3):399–411

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation (2008) Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Final report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys DK, Degli Esposti M, Gardner F, Shepherd J (2019) Violence in England and Wales: Does media reporting match the data? BMJ, 307: I6040

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Stephan Collishaw

  2. Rudd Centre for Adoption Research and Practice, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Sussex, UK

    Ruth Sellers

Authors
  1. Stephan Collishaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ruth Sellers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephan Collishaw .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. King’s College London, London, UK

    Eric Taylor

  2. Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    F. C. Verhulst

  3. National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    John Wong

  4. Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan

    Keiko Yoshida

  5. King's College London, London, UK

    Anula Nikapota

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    F Verhulst

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Collishaw, S., Sellers, R. (2020). Trends in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Prevalence, Outcomes, and Inequalities. In: Taylor, E., Verhulst, F., Wong, J., Yoshida, K., Nikapota, A. (eds) Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_9-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_9-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0753-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0753-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation