Flash Eurobarometer on Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Young People
A Flash Eurobarometer survey on the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Young people is being carried out during September 2008. It is planned to publish the first outcomes of the survey on World Mental Health Day 10 October.
The project is a part of the implementation of priority "Mental Health in Youth and Education" of the European Pact for Mental Health and Wellbeing, launched at an EU high level conference on 13 June 2008 in Brussels.
The Flash Eurobarometer survey on the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Young People will be using a well-established and methodological robust index, KIDSCREEN 10. The project was developed by a network of European researchers led by Prof. Ravens-Sieberer with support from the EU's 6th Research Framework Programme. The questions address specific aspects and determinants of well-being and mental health.
Emotional wellbeing and behaviour has been tested extensively and the results indicate that the proportion of children and adolescents showing signs of mental health problems varied across countries and socio-demographic and socio-economic subgroups. Risk factors examined included adverse family climate, low socio-economic status, poor social support and decreased mental well-being of the parents. When several risk factors occur simultaneously, the prevalence of mental health problems increases markedly. Children and adolescents with mental health problems display distinctly impaired health-related quality of life.
The objective of this project is to obtain more data about the mental health and well being of children and adolescents, which can complement existing health data, and consequently to acknowledge the mental and psychological well-being of children and young people in the monitoring of population health.