ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the status of mental health in preschool children of Yangzhou city, and to explore the effect of home environment. Methods A total of 2 531 children from 7 kindergartens were selected by random cluster sampling. Questionnaire (including SDQ tests) was used to analyse the status and characteristics of mental health. Results The rate of children with mental disorder was 6.4%, the most prominent problem was peer relationship difficulty (17.8%), followed by hyperactivity/inattention (13.7%), prosocial behavior (9.4%), conduct problems (7.0%) and emotional problems (5.7%). Except for emotional symptoms, the detection rates of all other investigated problems among boys were higher than those among girls. Logistic regression analysis showed that the low level of mother's education (OR=1.85, 95%CI:1.04-3.29) and the joint family (OR=1.81, 95%CI:1.19-2.75) were risk factors, and gender of girl was protective factor (OR=0.71，95%CI：0.51-0.98). Conclusions The rate of mental disorder is low, but hyperactivity in boys and emotional problems in girls are quite popular, especially in children who have mother with low level of education or live in the joint family.