A nationwide study of social-emotional problems in young children in Turkey.

We aimed to assess the prevalence of social-emotional problems of Turkish children in early childhood and to understand their association with various bio-psycho-social risk factors, in order to establish guidelines in planning training programs for parents and professionals. Data from a representative sample of 1507 boys (54.3%) and 1268 girls (45.7%) aged 10-48 months were collected. The primary caregivers (mothers=91.4%) completed the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and a form designed to gather information about various bio-psycho-social risk factors. Based on the caregiver terms, a total of 1626 children (60.1%) were reported to experience social-emotional problems. However, based on the BITSEA-problem clinical (1.5 SD) cut-off scores, 9.3% (9.1% of boys; 9.5% of girls) of all children were found to experience social-emotional problems. The variables, that showed a significant association with BITSEA-problem scores in pairwise comparisons, were entered in logistic regression analysis to determine the variables that predict the group with scores of above clinical cut-point. Higher total score of BSI of the primary caregiver, being separated from the mother for more than a month, and lower income of the family were found to be significant predictors of social-emotional problems. Caregiver reports highlight that maternal variables of mothers' psychological well-being, education and access to sources of support are closely related to the social-emotional wellbeing of their off-spring. The findings obtained from this study may be used for detection of prioritized domains in terms of management of preventive mental health services.

Prevelance of mental disorders and associated factors in institutionalized 3-5 year old children.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to determine the prevelance and severity of mental disorders in institutionalized children between the ages of 3-5 years, investigate the factors associated with the mental disorders and compare these findings with the data of a community sample composed of children who were raised by their own families. METHOD: Thirty-four children raised in three institutions in Kocaeli were compared with an age- and sex-matched community sample. Children were assessed according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. The Socio-demographic information form, and Early Childhood Inventory-4 (ECI-4) parent scale were used for data collection. RESULTS: Children that were reared in institutions had evidence of higher rates of mental disorders. In institution-reared children, symptom severity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, reactive attachment disorder, oppositional deficient disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder were higher than the community subjects. Age, time spent with father, duration of institutionalization, number of siblings, number of hospital admissions because of physical symptoms and presence of abuse before institutional care were determined to be predictive factors for psychiatric symptoms. CONCLUSION: These findings revealed that institutionalized children are at risk for mental disorders and protective measures are as important as instutional care for these children. Our results suggest that essential steps should be taken to protect the mental health of children in institutional care.