Exploring the relationship between quality of life and mental health problems in children: implications for measurement and practice

Abstract

Quality of life is typically reduced in children with mental health problems. Understanding the relationship between quality of life and mental health problems and the factors that moderate this association is a pressing priority. This was a cross-sectional study involving 45,398 children aged 8-13 years from 880 schools in England. Self-reported quality of life was assessed using nine items from the KIDSCREEN-10 and mental health was assessed using the Me and My School Questionnaire. Demographic information (gender, age, ethnicity, socio-economic status) was also recorded. Quality of life was highest in children with no problems and lowest in children with both internalising and externalising problems. There was indication that quality of life may be reduced in children with internalising problems compared with externalising problems. Approximately 12 % children with mental health problems reported high quality of life. The link between mental health and quality of life was moderated by gender and age but not by socio-economic status or ethnicity. This study supports previous work showing mental health and quality of life are related but not synonymous. The findings have implications for measuring quality of life in child mental health settings and the need for approaches to support children with mental health problems that are at particular risk of poor quality of life.

Development and predictors of mental ill-health and wellbeing from childhood to adolescence

“…Understanding mental health development in childhood and adolescence is important as mental health in childhood is predictive of a range of adult outcomes [45,46] and understanding the longitudinal developments in these domains at these life stages help understand the vast impacts these variables have through the lifecourse ultimately informing policy and prevention efforts in mental health. We find that both domains of wellbeing and mental ill-health in childhood are not strong predictors of the other domain a few years on, further lending support to the notion that wellbeing and mental ill-health are not just two ends of the same spectrum [47]; a perspective which to-date has been mainly supported by weak correlations in cross-sectional data [3,4]. The weak prediction of scores in one domain on future scores in the other domain, support arguments for measuring both wellbeing and mental ill-health as suitable as outcomes of interventions, especially when they focus on prevention and promotion [48,49].…”

“…Although some consider wellbeing and mental ill-health to be two ends of the same spectrum of mental health, there is increasing evidence of their relatively weak correlations and the identification of a substantial number of individuals who experience good wellbeing in the presence of symptoms of mental ill-health [3][4][5]. This supports a two-domain view of mental health where mental ill-health and subjective wellbeing are distinct constructs, that are associated but only moderately [4,5].…”

Relationship between Health-Related Quality of Life and Physical Activity in Children with Hyperactivity

“…The "Block F: Mental Health" questions aims to assess the prevalence of risk of poor mental health in children using the parents' version of the SDQ [37]. It is a brief behavioral assessment questionnaire for children and adolescents aged from 3 to 16 years, which was designed to be used as a screening instrument for the main psychopathologies in children and adolescents, according to the diagnostic categories established in the international classification systems [38].…”

Psychiatry, mental health, mental disability: time for some necessary clarifications

“…In most issues of ECAP, we have a wide panorama of papers dealing either with psychiatric disorders [1], disability [2], mental health [3] or subthreshold manifestations [4]. But are we really clear about these different constructs?…”