Social‐emotional problems among three‐year‐olds differ based on the child's gender and custody arrangement

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate mental health with respect to social‐emotional problems among three‐year‐olds in relation to their gender, custody arrangements and place of residence. METHODS: A cross‐sectional population‐based design was used, encompassing 7179 three‐year‐olds in nort...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta Paediatrica
Main Authors: Eurenius, Eva, Richter Sundberg, Linda, Vaezghasemi, Masoud, Silfverdal, Sven‐Arne, Ivarsson, Anneli, Lindkvist, Marie
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018
Subjects:
Regular Articles
Northern Sweden
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6590218/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30496622
https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.14668
Description
Summary:AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate mental health with respect to social‐emotional problems among three‐year‐olds in relation to their gender, custody arrangements and place of residence. METHODS: A cross‐sectional population‐based design was used, encompassing 7179 three‐year‐olds in northern Sweden during the period 2014–2017 from the regional Salut Register. Descriptive and comparative analyses were performed based on parents’ responses on the Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social‐Emotional, supplemented with items on gender, custody arrangement and place of residence. RESULTS: Parental‐reported social‐emotional problems were found in almost 10% of the children. Boys were reported to have more problems (12.3%) than girls (5.6%; p < 0.001). Parents were most concerned about children's eating habits and interactions at mealtimes. Parents not living together reported more problems among their children than those living together (p < 0.001). When stratifying by custody arrangement, girls in rural areas living alternately with each parent had more problems compared to those in urban areas (p < 0.008). CONCLUSION: Gender and custody arrangements appear to be important factors for social‐emotional problems among three‐year‐olds. Thus, such conditions should receive attention during preschool age, preferably by a systematic preventive strategy within Child Health Care.

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