Socioeconomic inequalities in mental health and health-related quality of lilfe in children

This freshly published study from the International Journal of Public Health aimed to assess the presence and magnitude of inequalities in mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children.

The study used data from the KIDSCREEN project and included 16,210 parent-child paris, aged 8-18 years coming from 11 European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and UK.

The results showed consistent inequalities in mental health in all countries according to family level of education. The results were less consistent by age and country regarding HRQOL.

The authors identify the need for future research to clarify the causes of these inequalities and to define initiatives which prevent them continuing into adulthood.

*************************************************************************************************************************

This study was written by Luis Rajmil, Michael Herdman, Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer, Michael Erhart, Jordi Alonso and the European KIDSCREEN group