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BackgroundLow socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood is known to be a significant risk factor for mental disorders in Western societies. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a similar association exists in Japan.MethodsWe used data from the World Mental Health Japan Survey conducted from 2002–2006 (weighted N = 1,682). Respondents completed diagnostic interviews that assessed lifetime prevalence of major depression (MD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Associations between parental education (a proxy of SES in childhood) and lifetime onset of both disorders were estimated and stratified by gender using discrete-time survival analysis.ResultsAmong women, high parental education was positively associated with MD (odds ratio [OR]: 1.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-3.18) in comparison with low parental education, even after adjustment for age, childhood characteristics, and SES in adulthood. This same effect was not found for men. In contrast, higher parental education was associated with GAD (OR: 6.84, 95% CI: 1.62-28.94) in comparison with low parental education among men, but this association was not found among the women, in the fully adjusted model.ConclusionsIn Japan, childhood SES is likely to be positively associated with the lifetime onset of mental disorders, regardless of family history of mental disorders, childhood physical illness, or SES in adulthood. Further study is required to replicate the current findings and elucidate the mechanism of the positive association between mental disorders and childhood SES.

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Background: The Adachi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty (A-CHILD) study has been conducted since 2015 to clarify the associations between socioeconomic factors and child health, as well as to accumulate data for political evaluation of the child-poverty agenda. This paper describes the purpose and research design of the A-CHILD study and the baseline profiles of participants, together with the future framework for implementing this cohort study. Methods: We have conducted two types of continuous survey: a complete-sample survey started in 2015 as a first wave study to target first-grade children in all public elementary schools in Adachi City, Tokyo, and a biennial fixed grade observation survey started in 2016 in selected elementary and junior high schools. Questionnaires were answered by caregivers of all targeted children and also by the children themselves for those in the fourth grade and higher. The data of A-CHILD also combined information obtained from school health checkups of all school-grade children, as well as the results from blood test and measurement of blood pressure of eight-grade children since 2016. Results: The valid responses in the first wave were 4,291 (80.1%). The number of households in "living difficulties", such as low household income or material deprivation, stood at 1,047 (24.5%). Conclusions: The A-CHILD study will contribute to the clarification of the impact of poverty on children's health disparities and paves the way to managing this issue in the community.