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Russian child mental health A cross-sectional study of prevalence and risk factors

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Abstract

Background

The fall of communism and subsequent economic crises have been followed by major social and health problems. High rates of child mental health problems are frequently cited by the Russian media, though there is little relevant evidence.

Aims

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and associations of child mental health problems in Russia using internationally recognised measures and diagnostic systems.

Method

A two-stage, two-phase cross-sectional survey of the mental health of 7- to 14-year-olds involved random sampling of schools, followed by random sampling of pupils from school lists. A sample of 448 children was obtained, representing an 83% participation rate. In the first phase, screening measures of psychopathology and risk were administered to parents, teachers and 11- to 14-year-olds. In the second phase, more detailed psychiatric assessments were carried out for subgroups of screen-positive and screen-negative children (N=172).

Results

The prevalence of psychiatric disorder was about 70% higher than that recently found in Britain with comparable measures, but there were few differences between Britain and Russia in type of disorder or key risk factors.

Conclusion

There is a pressing need for evidence-based mental health treatments to be made widely available to Russian children and adolescents.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, 85, London SE5 8AF, UK

    Robert Goodman

  2. State Research Institute of Physiology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Novosibirsk 630117, Russia

    Helena Slobodskaya & Gennadij Knyazev

Authors
  1. Robert Goodman
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  2. Helena Slobodskaya
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  3. Gennadij Knyazev
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Goodman.

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Goodman, R., Slobodskaya, H. & Knyazev, G. Russian child mental health A cross-sectional study of prevalence and risk factors. Europ.Child & Adolescent Psych 14, 28–33 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-005-0420-8

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