Parental Smoking in the Vicinity of Children and Tobacco Control Policies in the European Region

Objective: To ascertain patterns of parental smoking in the vicinity of children in Eastern and Western Europe and their relation to Tobacco Control Scale (TCS) scores. Methods: Data on parental smoking patterns were obtained from the School Child Mental Health Europe (SCMHE), a 2010 cross-sectional survey of 5141 school children aged 6 to 11 years and their parents in six countries: Germany, Netherlands, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey ranked by TCS into three level categories toward tobacco control policies. Results: A slightly higher proportion of Eastern compared to Western European mothers (42.4 vs. 35.1%) were currently smoking in but the difference was not statistically significant after adjusting for maternal age and maternal educational attainment. About a fifth (19.3%) and a tenth (10.0%) of Eastern and Western European mothers, respectively, smoked in the vicinity of their children, and the difference was significant even after adjustment for potential confounders (p less than 0.001). Parents with the highest educational attainment were significantly less likely to smoke in the vicinity of their children than those with the lowest attainment. After control of these covariates lax tobacco control policies, compared to intermediate policies, were associated with a 50% increase in the likelihood of maternal smoking in the vicinity of children adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.52 and 1.64. Among fathers, however, the relationship with paternal smoking and TCS seems more complex since strict policy increases the risk as well AOR = 1,40. Only one country, however belongs to the strict group. Significance: Tobacco control policies seem to have influenced maternal smoking behaviors overall to a limited degree and smoking in the vicinity of children to a much greater degree. Children living in European countries with lax tobacco control policies are more likely to be exposed to second hand smoking from maternal and paternal smoking

The association between car accident fatalities and children's fears: A study in seven EU countries

Contains fulltext : 175342.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Children's fear of a car accident occurring to parents or themselves has been used as a concrete example to illustrate one of the symptoms of anxiety disorders such as separation anxiety and generalized anxiety. However, its usage across countries may be questionable where the prevalence of this specific type of injury differs. This cross-sectional study compares samples from seven diverse European countries (Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania, Turkey) to see if an environmental exposure, car accident death rate per 100,000 people (country-wide from WHO data), is associated with children's self-report of car accident fears. In this study, 6-11 year-old children were surveyed by a diagnostic instrument (Dominic Interactive) about several situations and asked if they believed they were similar to a fictional child depicted in said situations. Mothers were surveyed for additional sociodemographic information. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for covariates including mother's age, mother's education, single parenting, and mother's professional inactivity. We report a monotonic relationship between higher car accident death rates and the prevalence of children reporting fear of parent's or own accident. Relative to a reference of 3.9 deaths per 100,000 people, children's odds of reporting fear of parent's accident ranged from 1.99 (95% CI 1.51-2.61) times to 4.84 (95% CI 3.68-6.37) times as the risk of death by car accident increased across countries. A similar result arose from fear of child's own accident, with significant ORs ranging from 1.91 (95% CI 1.53-2.40) to 2.68 (95% CI 2.07-3.47) alongside increased death rates. Given that reporting of these fears accompanies correspondingly high accident death rates, the pertinence of using fear of car accidents as an illustration for some diagnostic item for mental disorders cross-nationally appears to be an issue.15 p

Mental health problems, low birthweight and academic achievement in mathematics and reading

Contains fulltext : 219595.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)The objective of the study is to investigate the role of mental health in the relationship between moderately low birthweight MLBW (>= 1500 g & <=2500) and academic achievement in a large cross-country study. Data were drawn from the School Children Mental Health in Europe study (n = 4305). Achievement in mathematics and reading was categorized by teachers as being below average, average or above average. Parents reported birthweight, and both parents and teachers evaluated mental health status using the Strengths and difficulties Questionnaire. When controlling for child age, number of children in the household, maternal age, education, employment status and psychological distress and country of residence, MLBW was associated with lower odds of above average performance in mathematics and reading. Once mental health was added into the model, MLBW remained significant but mental health problems largely surpassed its influence: conduct disorders decreased the probability to perform above average in mathematics RRR = 0.37 and increased the risk of performing below average RRR = 4.45 as did ADHD and emotional disorders. A similar trend was found for reading achievement except for ADHD which decreased the probability of above average performance RRR = 0.13 and did not have a significant effect on below average performance. A path analysis highlights the prominent role of mental health. Among children attending regular education settings, MLBW is associated with academic performance but mental health has much stronger effects. Teachers and parents should be sensitized to child mental health problems and be informed of the special needs of MLBW children in order to help children overcome potential academic difficulties and to adapt their teaching taking into account mental health problems.22 mei 202011 p

Understanding parent-teacher agreement of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): Comparison across seven European countries

Assessments of child psychopathology are often derived from parental and teacher reports, yet there is substantial disagreement. This study utilized data from 7 European countries to examine parent–teacher agreement and possible explanatory factors for parent-teacher disagreement such as child and family characteristics, parenting dimensions, and maternal distress were explored. Parent–teacher agreement of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were assessed using a cross-sectional survey of 4,894 school aged children 6-11 from the School Children Mental Health Europe Project. Parent-teacher agreement was low to moderate (Pearson correlation ranging from .24 (Prosocial) to .48 (Hyperactivity) for the 5 subscales across 7 countries); kappa coefficient ranged from .01 (Turkey) to .44 (Italy) for internalizing problems and .19(Romania) to .44(Italy) for externalizing problems. Child's gender and age, mother's employment status, single parent home, number of children in household, and selected parenting dimension were found to be explanatory of informant disagreement. This study not only serves to advance our understanding of parent-teacher agreement of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in 7 European countries but provides a novel approach to examining the factors that contribute to informant disagreement

Mental health problems, low birthweight and academic achievement in mathematics and reading

The objective of the study is to investigate the role of mental health in the relationship between moderately low birthweight MLBW (>= 1500 g & <=2500) and academic achievement in a large cross-country study. Data were drawn from the School Children Mental Health in Europe study (n = 4305). Achievement in mathematics and reading was categorized by teachers as being below average, average or above average. Parents reported birthweight, and both parents and teachers evaluated mental health status using the Strengths and difficulties Questionnaire. When controlling for child age, number of children in the household, maternal age, education, employment status and psychological distress and country of residence, MLBW was associated with lower odds of above average performance in mathematics and reading. Once mental health was added into the model, MLBW remained significant but mental health problems largely surpassed its influence: conduct disorders decreased the probability to perform above average in mathematics RRR = 0.37 and increased the risk of performing below average RRR = 4.45 as did ADHD and emotional disorders. A similar trend was found for reading achievement except for ADHD which decreased the probability of above average performance RRR = 0.13 and did not have a significant effect on below average performance. A path analysis highlights the prominent role of mental health. Among children attending regular education settings, MLBW is associated with academic performance but mental health has much stronger effects. Teachers and parents should be sensitized to child mental health problems and be informed of the special needs of MLBW children in order to help children overcome potential academic difficulties and to adapt their teaching taking into account mental health problems

Maternal problem drinking and child mental health

Item does not contain fulltextBackground: Offspring of individuals with alcohol use disorders have been shown to have elevated risk for mental health problems. Objectives: To examine the association between maternal problem drinking and child mental health as assessed by three informants in three European countries. Methods: Data were drawn from the School Child Mental Health in Europe study. Maternal alcohol use was assessed using the alcohol use disorders identification test. Child mental health was assessed using the mother and teacher versions of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire, and the child self-reported Dominic interactive. Analyses were performed on 2,678 individuals, 6-11 year olds. Results: Adjusting for variables associated with maternal drinking, among children eight years old or younger, excessive drinking was not significantly associated with mental health problems, whether reported by the mother, teacher or by the child. However, among girls eight years old and above, problem drinking was associated with conduct problems as reported by the mother (OR = 4.19), teacher reported total difficulties (OR = 4.69), and peer relationship problems (OR = 8.86). It was also associated with the presence of any child-reported disorder (OR = 3.88), externalizing (OR = 5.55) and internalizing disorders (OR = 4.42). Conclusions/Importance: Adjusting for sociodemographic variables and for psychological distress, maternal problem drinking was not significantly associated with child mental health problems in boys or in girls ages six to eight. The association was only present among girls ages 8-11. Examining relationships between mothers and their daughters in the peripubertal period may be a critical window for the development of effective intervention strategies.9 p