BACKGROUND Research on the impact of stigma associated with mental illness in children is scarce. Considering the known negative effects of stigma associated with mental illness in adults, it is crucial to explore the stigma experienced by children who access mental health treatment. However, no scale measuring self-stigmatization in younger children is available to date. This study aimed to de...

BACKGROUND Sleep disorders are a common problem among children beginning school and may be associated both with impaired school performance and with behavioral difficulties. Because these disorders manifest themselves highly variably among children of any given age, and even in an individual affected child, they need an appropriate diagnostic evaluation so that the many environmental and backgr...

BACKGROUND Higher serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), an indicator of vitamin D synthesis and intake, have been associated with better mental health and cognitive function. Concentrations of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (the active vitamin D(3) metabolite) have been associated with openness and extrovert behaviour, but 25(OH)D concentrations have not been associated with behavi...

The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) using a Structural Confirmatory Factor Analytic approach. The Danish translation of the SDQ was distributed to 71,840 parents and teachers of 5-7 and 10-12-year-old boys and girls from four large scale cohorts. Three theoretical models were examined: 1. a model with five first order f...

The aims of this study were threefold. Firstly, to analyze the psychometric properties of the Polish-language Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI) questionnaire in the self-report Adolescent Outcomes Questionnaire (adolescents, 11-18 years of age) and in the parent-report Adolescent Outcomes Questionnaire (completed by a parent or guardian of an adolescent aged 11-18 years). Se...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the association of eczema, asthma and hay fever with mental health in a general child population and to assess the influence of parental socioeconomic position on these associations. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional health survey of children aged 3, 6, 11 and 15 years in the City of Copenhagen, Denmark. Individual questionnaire data on eczema, asthm...

OBJECTIVES This study investigates the psychological functioning of children with polyarticular joint disease and its association with disease activity and disability. METHODS Sixty children aged 7-18 yrs with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and >4 joints involved were recruited. Children underwent a physical examination. The Childhood HAQ was completed by both the children and their parents. C...

OBJECTIVE To examine the psychometric properties of the online administered parental version of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and to provide parental norms from a nationwide Swedish sample. METHODS A total of 1443 parents from of a national probability sample of 2800 children aged 10-13 years completed the SDQ online or as usual (i.e., using paper-and-pencil). RESULTS T...