Mental Health Care Use in Children of Parents with Mental Health Problems: Results of the BELLA Study.

Whether parental mental health problems facilitate or hinder the use of mental health care of the parents´ children is still unclear. The present cross sectional study examined mental health care use and potential predictors in a population based sample. Children of parents with mental health problems (CPM) were nearly 5 times more likely to use mental health care compared to children of parents without mental health problems. A multiple regression analysis revealed that the most important predictors of mental health care use for CPM were active family life (OR = 2.67) and children´s own mental health problems (OR = 1.18 self-report, 1.17 parent-report). Additionally, parental strain showed a tendency to predict mental health care use (OR = 2.45). This study demonstrates that parental mental health problems are associated with mental health care use in their children and that improving certain family factors may support children´s mental health care use.

[Risks and resources for mental health of children and adolescents]. / Risiken und Ressourcen für die psychische Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen.

Children's and adolescents' mental health is an epidemiological outcome of considerable public health relevance. This is based on a comparably high prevalence of mental health problems and disorders in children and adolescents. The supplementary study 'Mental Health', which is a modular part of the Health Survey for Children and Adolescents conducted by the Robert Koch Institute, aims at assessing the prevalence of specific mental health problems and disorders in a representative sample of children and adolescents in Germany. Furthermore, determinants of mental health will be studied in a developmental context. Screening to assess mental health problems will be performed in a representative sub-sample of the National Health Survey for Children and Adolescents. The sub-sample will comprise approximately 4,000 children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years. Participants are interviewed once to assess the occurrence of risk factors and available assets (protective factors) for mental health, thus providing valuable data for health monitoring and planning (cross-sectional part of the study). A sub-group of this cross-sectional sample as well as an additional clinical sample are repeatedly studied in a longitudinal design. This part of the study is carried out to estimate the effect size of risk and protective factors on mental health, and to analyse their combined effects on the developmental process. From the findings, clues to effective prevention and intervention strategies can be derived.