Younger pupils at risk of mental health problems

Friday, 29 August 2003 12:00 AM

New research has found that children who are much younger than their classmates have an increased chance of suffering from mental health problems.

Doctors studied 10,000 school pupils and found that younger children have a greater risk of suffering from psychiatric problems all the way through from primary school to university. The youngest children in the school year also have an increased risk of being incorrectly identified by teachers as having learning difficulties.

To undertake the research, published in today's British Medical Journal, Professor Robert Goodman and colleagues at the Institute of Psychiatry in London surveyed five to 15-year-olds in England and Wales. They divided the children into three groups depending on their age in relation to the rest of their school class - oldest, middle and youngest.

They found that 8.3% of children in the oldest third of the class and 8.8% of children in the middle age range had a psychiatric disorder. However 9.9%of those in the youngest group had a psychiatric disorder. These include anxiety, depression and behavioural and emotional difficulties.

The doctors said that their results should lead to increased awareness by teachers of the relative age of their pupils; and called for a more flexible approach to children's progression through school.

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