Table 4.
Child and adolescent mental health problems in the clinical level a reported by mothers and by adolescents and current post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms reported by adolescents
| Child/adolescent mental health | Informant | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mothers | Mothers | Adolescents | |
| (age 6–10) | (age 11–15) | (age 11–15) | |
| n = 689 | n = 720 | n = 680 | |
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| Clinical mental health problems (past 6 months)a | |||
| Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire | SDQ‐parent | SDQ‐parent | SDQ‐youth |
| Emotional problems | 126 (18.5) | 172 (24.4)*, ### | 71 (11.4) |
| Conduct problems | 160 (24.1) | 153 (25.4) ### | 93 (13.8) |
| Hyperactivity‐inattention | 147 (22.8) | 122 (18.9) ### | 77 (9.9) |
| Peer problems | 142 (22.9) | 161 (23.5) ### | 49 (6.7) |
| Total problems | 129 (21.4) | 135 (20.9) ### | 86 (12.8) |
| Child Behaviour Checklistb/Youth Self‐Report | CBCL | CBCL | YSR |
| Anxious/depressed | 39 (6.9) | 46 (7.8) | 39 (6.5) |
| Withdrawn/depressed | 21 (4.5) | 40 (5.6) | 21 (3.9) |
| Somatic complaints | 24 (4.3) | 39 (5.7)## | 17 (3.1) |
| Social problems | 17 (4.4) | 14 (2.2) | 24 (4.1) |
| Thought problems | 19 (3.1) | 13 (2.9)### | 4 (0.8) |
| Attention problems | 30 (4.5) | 27 (4.5) | 35 (5.3) |
| Rule‐breaking | 18 (3.6) | 12 (2.3)### | 1 (0.2) |
| Aggressive behaviour | 48 (8.3) | 55 (8.1) | 36 (6.0) |
| Internalizing problems | 93 (15.4) | 126 (17.8)### | 69 (11.5) |
| Externalizing problems | 87 (14.9) | 94 (13.7)### | 55 (8.4) |
| Total problems | 79 (13.4) | 100 (15.4)### | 60 (9.8) |
| Current PTSD symptomsc | |||
| Recurrent thoughts or images of event | 26 (4.6) | ||
| Avoidance of thoughts or feelings | 27 (4.9) | ||
| Nightmares | 8 (1.8) | ||
| Insomnia | 11 (1.8) | ||
| Irritability, outburst of anger | 10 (1.9) | ||
| Repetitive play | 6 (1.2) | ||
| Dissociative episodes | 12 (1.9) | ||
| Illusions | 8 (1.3) | ||
| Hallucinations | 7 (0.8) | ||
| Distress elicited from exposure to stimuli that resemble or symbolize event | 19 (3.5) | ||
| Avoidance of activities | 26 (4.8) | ||
| Inability to recall | 12 (2.1) | ||
| Diminished interest in activities | 6 (0.7) | ||
| Feelings of detachment | 2 (0.1) | ||
| Restricted affect | 3 (0.5) | ||
| Sense of foreshortened future | 4 (0.7) | ||
| Difficulty concentrating | 15 (3.1) | ||
| Hypervigilance | 16 (2.8) | ||
| Exaggerated startle response | 13 (2.1) | ||
| Physiologic reactivity upon exposure to events that symbolize traumatic event | 10 (2.0) | ||
| Three or more current PTSD symptoms | 31 (5.4) |
Note. Empty cells refer to items not included in the mothers' questionnaire. PTSD = post‐traumatic stress disorder.
Scores in the clinical range according to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Achenbach's instruments.
One missing subject.
Related to the currently most bothersome traumatic event among all previously reported violence exposure events (at home, school or community) and/or stressful life events occurred in the past 12 months.
Chi‐square tests performed to identify differences between children rates and adolescent rates (all mother reported).
p ≤ .05.
p ≤ .01.
p ≤ .001.
McNemar's tests performed to identify differences between paired proportions in the age group 11–15 years (mother reported rates vs. adolescent reported rates).
p ≤ .05.
p ≤ .01.
p ≤ .001.