Using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire to screen for child mental health in the twins and the only-child

作者:Qin, Qing; Fu, Yi-Xiao; Meng, Hua-Qing*; Xiang, Hui; Jiang, Ji-Ze; Huang, Ying; Zhou, Yu; Zhang, Mao-Lan
来源:International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 2016, 9(5): 8749-8754.

摘要

Background: The psychiatric disorders of children are common, but the sensitivity of screening measures to detect children with mental health problems is different in China. Meanwhile, the evaluation measure that could not screening impairment in social functioning and dimensions caused by the psychiatric disorder was lack of systemic assessments. In 1979, China began to carry out the family planning policy to effectively control the population. In 2008, there are more than 100 million families with only-child. We found that the present researches on the mental health were compared in a community sample of family with the only-child and with two or more children in China, but less research focused on the difference of the mental health between the twins and the only-child group. This study is to assess the difference of mental health between the twins group and the only-child group. Method: The mental health problems were compared in the four scales of SDQ in the sample of 6 to 16 years olds from the twins group and the only-child group. A sample of 443 children was evaluated using parents as informants. And 268 more than 11 years old children were evaluated using parents and themselves as informants. Results: In the parents report, the distribution of peer problems was significantly different between the two groups. In the self report, the distribution of all scales was no significantly different between the two groups. The difference of SDQ prediction between the two groups, in the twins group, the proportion of "probable" was 0.9% for anxiety-depressive disorder, the proportion of "probable" was 3.1% for conduct disorder and 1.3% for Hyperactivity disorder. At last, the proportion of probable was 5.3% for any disorder. In the only-child group, the proportion of "probable" was 1.9% for anxiety-depressive disorder. The proportion of "probable" was 3.4% for conduct disorder and "possible" was 13.5% for Hyperactivity disorder. At last, the proportion of probable was 5.3% for any disorder. There was no significant difference for the proportion of "probable" by the SDQ algorithm between the two groups. Conclusions: The distribution of individuals with the peer problems in the sample of the only-child group was more than that of the twins group, and there were significantly different between the two groups. We presume that the children and adolescents in the only-child group were easy to encounter with the peer relationship problems. The influence of children number to mental health of children and adolescents is a superficial factor, the most important factor is the parenting style and the quality of the home environment.