Socioeconomic Inequalities and Mental Health Problems in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

In this chapter we present findings of studies showing that socioeconomic inequalities, especially income and parental educational inequalities, are consistently associated with mental health problems in children and adolescents. Observational longitudinal and intervention studies suggest that socioeconomic status (SES) influences on child mental health are mediated by family characteristics indicating lack of parental involvement. Especially maternal mental health (e.g., maternal depression) and poor parenting practices, such as harsh parenting and less parental control, underlie the association between parental SES and child mental health. At the population level, there is some evidence that income inequality, more so than average income, is associated with less well-being in children, but little is known about possible mediating mechanisms. We advocate that, in addition to family functioning and parental mental health, other possible mediating factors such as family social network, grandparental support, leisure activities, access to and quality of special teaching programs or tutoring, childcare, but also children’s lack of cognitive and social skills including self-control, should be included in studies looking at the associations between parental SES and child mental health, even if anticipated effects will be smaller. There is evidence that programs aimed at improving parenting skills and encouraging parental involvement help high-risk parents to interact with young children in ways that support their children’s cognitive and socioemotional skills. School-based, universal social and emotional learning programs are effective in reducing child problem behaviors and increasing positive social skills and academic performance. Some studies suggest that universal unconditional cash transfer may result in improvements in child mental health, although effects may vary with the type of problems. With only few exceptions, intervention studies to reduce child problem behaviors and increase positive social skills and academic performance in young children of high-risk families have been conducted in developing countries and the USA. Public health and policy researchers in the field of behavioral economics should conduct more community trials in developed countries other than the USA.