Previous epidemiological evidence identified a concerning increase in behavioural problems among young children from 1997 to 2008 in Brazil. However, it is unclear whether behavioural problems have continued to increase, if secular changes vary between sociodemographic groups and what might explain changes over time. We aimed to monitor changes in child behavioural problems over a 22-year period from 1997 to 2019, examine changing social inequalities and explore potential explanations for recent changes in behavioural problems between 2008 and 2019.

The Child Behaviour Checklist was used to compare parent-reported behavioural problems in 4-year-old children across three Brazilian birth cohorts assessed in 1997 (1993 cohort, n = 633), 2008 (2004 cohort, n = 3750) and 2019 (2015 cohort, n = 577). Response rates across all three population-based cohorts were over 90%. Moderation analyses tested if cross-cohort changes differed by social inequalities (demographic and socioeconomic position), while explanatory models explored whether changes in hypothesized risk and protective factors in prenatal development (e.g., smoking during pregnancy) and family life (e.g., maternal depression and harsh parenting) accounted for changes in child behavioural problems from 2008 to 2019.

Initial increases in child behavioural problems from 1997 to 2008 were followed by declines in conduct problems (mean change = −2.75; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −3.56, −1.94; P < 0.001), aggression (mean change = −1.84; 95% CI: −2.51, −1.17; P < 0.001) and rule-breaking behaviour (mean change = −0.91; 95% CI: −1.13, −0.69 P < 0.001) from 2008 to 2019. Sex differences in rule-breaking behaviour diminished during this 22-year period, whereas socioeconomic inequalities in behavioural problems emerged in 2008 and then remained relatively stable. Consequently, children from poorer and less educated families had higher behavioural problems, compared to more socially advantaged children, in the two more recent cohorts. Changes in measured risk and protective factors partly explained the reduction in behavioural problems from 2008 to 2019.

Following a rise in child behavioural problems, there was a subsequent reduction in behavioural problems from 2008 to 2019. However, social inequalities increased and remained high. Continued monitoring of behavioural problems by subgroups is critical for closing the gap between socially advantaged and disadvantaged children and achieving health equity for the next generation.

Bipolar disorder is associated, in popular belief, with violence as any psychiatric pathology. Studies in recent years have found an increased risk of violence in patients with bipolar disorder.

To describe the socio-demographic characteristics of bipolar patients and identify the various risk factors for violence.

We conducted a retrospective descriptive, analytical study, including patients with bipolar disorder type I and II in the CHU HEDI CHAKER Sfax psychiatry department whose reason for hospitalization was hetero-aggressiveness during a period of 6 months ranging from 1 January to 30 June 2019.

We’ve collected 32 patients. The average age of our sample is 36 years. Half of the patients (50%) were single. Most of these patients were unemployed. The type of bipolar disorder was dominated by type I (90.3%) in a manic episode. These patients had antisocial pathological personality in 18.8% and borderline personality in 20%. Siblings and ascendants accounted for 68.7% of victims of violence. Our study showed that comorbidity to the use of psychoactive substances was present in 65.6%. The exaltation of mood was intense in 78.1% with a bad insight in 75%. Patients with violent behaviour were discontinued in 96.9% of cases with poor therapeutic adherence in 90.6% and irregular follow-up in 68.8%. Violence was significantly associated with psychoactive substance use with p=0.037.

The risk of violence in patients with bipolar disorder is higher than in the general population. This risk is particularly high if there was an association with substance abuse and personality disorders.

The study aims to investigate attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, comorbid psychopathology and behaviour problems in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Parents of 147 children and adolescents with ASD aged 6–18 years completed the Conners 3 Parent-Short Form, Gastrointestinal Symptom Inventory, Behavior Problems Inventory-Short Form and Autism Spectrum Disorder-Comorbid for Children.

Fifty-six per cent of children and adolescents had a comorbid diagnosis of ADHD, yet over 70% presented with clinically significant ADHD symptoms. Forty per cent of participants received a diagnosis of ADHD before ASD and 25.6% received a diagnosis of ASD first. Relationships were found between ADHD symptoms and comorbid psychopathology, GI symptoms, and behaviour problems.

The outcomes suggest that ADHD is being underestimated as a comorbid disorder of ASD. This may have implications on treatment and interventions for children and adolescents who have a diagnosis of both ASD and ADHD.

There is now a strong body of literature showing that bullying victimisation during childhood and adolescence precedes the later development of anxiety and depressive disorders. This study aimed to quantify the burden of anxiety and depressive disorders attributable to experiences of bullying victimisation for the Australian population.

This study updated a previous systematic review summarising the longitudinal association between bullying victimisation and anxiety and depressive disorders. Estimates from eligible studies published from inception until 18 August 2018 were included and meta-analyses were based on quality-effects models. Pooled relative risks were combined with a contemporary prevalence estimate for bullying victimisation for Australia in order to calculate population attributable fractions (PAFs) for the two mental disorder outcomes. PAFs were then applied to estimates of the burden of anxiety and depressive disorders in Australia expressed as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

The findings from this study suggest 7.8% of the burden of anxiety disorders and 10.8% of the burden of depressive disorders are attributable to bullying victimisation in Australia. An estimated 30 656 DALYs or 0.52% (95% uncertainty interval 0.33–0.72%) of all DALYs in both sexes and all ages in Australia were attributable to experiences of bullying victimisation in childhood or adolescence.

There is convincing evidence to demonstrate a causal relationship between bullying victimisation and mental disorders. This study showed that bullying victimisation contributes a significant proportion of the burden of anxiety and depressive disorders. The investment and implementation of evidence-based intervention programmes that reduce bullying victimisation in schools could reduce the burden of disease arising from common mental disorders and improve the health of Australians.

We investigated the effect of maternal preconception fasting plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) on psychological problems in children aged 6 years from normal pregnancies.

A longitudinal study was carried out from preconception, throughout each trimester of pregnancy, until 6 years of age in the offspring. Fasting blood samples at 2–10 weeks preconception and non-fasting samples at birth were collected. Parents completed the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and teachers the Inattention-Overactivity with Aggression (IOWA) scale for the 6-year-old children.

Elevated tHcy during pregnancy has been associated with several adverse outcomes and with neurodevelopmental impairment in the offspring.

The initial sample consisted of 139 healthy non-pregnant women who were planning on becoming pregnant. Eighty-one mother–child dyads were followed from preconception until 6 years of age.

After adjusting for covariables, multiple linear regression models showed that higher preconception tHcy was associated with higher scores in internalizing dimension (β=0·289; P=0.028), specifically in withdrawn behaviour (β=0·349; P=0·009), anxiety/depression (β=0·303; P=0·019) and social problems (β=0·372; P=0·009). Aggressive behaviour in the school setting was higher in children whose mothers had higher preconception tHcy (β=0·351; P=0·014).

Moderately elevated preconception tHcy may increase the risk of psychological problems in offspring during childhood. These findings add to the evidence that maternal nutritional status, even before being pregnant, can affect later offspring health and may be important to consider when developing future public health policy.

Childhood maltreatment and a family history of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) are each associated with social-emotional dysfunction in childhood. Both are also strong risk factors for adult SSDs, and social-emotional dysfunction in childhood may be an antecedent of these disorders. We used data from a large Australian population cohort to determine the independent and moderating effects of maltreatment and parental SSDs on early childhood social-emotional functioning.

The New South Wales Child Development Study combines intergenerational multi-agency data using record linkage methods. Multiple measures of social-emotional functioning (social competency, prosocial/helping behaviour, anxious/fearful behaviour; aggressive behaviour, and hyperactivity/inattention) on 69 116 kindergarten children (age ~5 years) were linked with government records of child maltreatment and parental presentations to health services for SSD. Multivariable analyses investigated the association between maltreatment and social-emotional functioning, adjusting for demographic variables and parental SSD history, in the population sample and in sub-cohorts exposed and not exposed to parental SSD history. We also examined the association of parental SSD history and social-emotional functioning, adjusting for demographic variables and maltreatment.

Medium-sized associations were identified between maltreatment and poor social competency, aggressive behaviour and hyperactivity/inattention; small associations were revealed between maltreatment and poor prosocial/helping and anxious/fearful behaviours. These associations did not differ greatly when adjusted for parental SSD, and were greater in magnitude among children with no history of parental SSD. Small associations between parental SSD and poor social-emotional functioning remained after adjusting for demographic variables and maltreatment.

Childhood maltreatment and history of parental SSD are associated independently with poor early childhood social-emotional functioning, with the impact of exposure to maltreatment on social-emotional functioning in early childhood of greater magnitude than that observed for parental SSDs. The impact of maltreatment was reduced in the context of parental SSDs. The influence of parental SSDs on later outcomes of maltreated children may become more apparent during adolescence and young adulthood when overt symptoms of SSD are likely to emerge. Early intervention to strengthen childhood social-emotional functioning might mitigate the impact of maltreatment, and potentially also avert future psychopathology.

The objective of this study was to examine associations between trajectories of childhood neighbourhood social cohesion and adolescent mental health and behaviour.

This study used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, a nationally representative sample of Canadian children. The sample included 5577 children aged 0–3 years in 1994–1995, prospectively followed until age 12–15 years. Parental perceived neighbourhood cohesion was assessed every 2 years. Latent growth class modelling was used to identify trajectories of neighbourhood cohesion. Mental health and behavioural outcomes were self-reported at age 12–15 years. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between neighbourhood cohesion trajectories and outcomes, adjusting for potential confounders.

Five distinct trajectories were identified: ‘stable low’ (4.2%); ‘moderate increasing’ (9.1%); ‘stable moderate’ (68.5%); ‘high falling’ (8.9%); and ‘stable high’ (9.3%). Relative to those living in stable moderately cohesive neighbourhoods, those in stable low cohesive neighbourhoods were more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety/depression [odds ratio (OR) = 1.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–2.90] and engage in indirect aggression (OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.07–2.45). Those with improvements in neighbourhood cohesion had significantly lower odds of hyperactivity (OR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.46–0.98) and indirect aggression (OR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.49–0.96). In contrast, those with a decline in neighbourhood cohesion had increased odds of hyperactivity (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.21–2.29). Those in highly cohesive neighbourhoods in early childhood were more likely to engage in prosocial behaviour (‘high falling’: OR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.38–2.69; ‘stable high’: OR = 1.89, 95% CI 1.35–2.63).

These results suggest that neighbourhood cohesion in childhood may have time-sensitive effects on several domains of adolescent mental health and behaviour.

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether an intervention which focused on enhancing the quality of the mother-infant relationship would prevent the development of postnatal depression (PND) and the associated impairments in parenting and adverse effects on child development.

Recent meta-analyses indicate modest preventive effects of psychological treatments for women vulnerable to the development of PND. However, given the strong evidence for an impact of PND on the quality of the mother–infant relationship and child development, it is notable that there are limited data on the impact of preventive interventions on these outcomes. This is clearly a question that requires research attention. Accordingly, a randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted of such a preventive intervention.

A large sample of pregnant women was screened to identify those at risk of PND. In an RCT 91 were randomly assigned to receive the index intervention from research health visitors, and 99 were assigned to a control group who received normal care. In an adjacent area 76 women at risk of PND received the index intervention from trained National Health Service (NHS) health visitors. The index intervention involved 11 home visits, two antenatally and nine postnatally. They were supportive in nature, with specific measures to enhance maternal sensitivity to infant communicative signals, including items from the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. Independent assessments were made at 8 weeks, 18 weeks, and 12 and 18 months postpartum. Assessments were made of maternal mood, maternal sensitivity in mother–infant engagement, and infant behaviour problems, attachment and cognition.

The RCT revealed that the index intervention had no impact on maternal mood, the quality of the maternal parenting behaviours, or infant outcome, although there were suggestions, on some self-report measures, that those with a lower level of antenatal risk experienced benefit. This was also the case for the intervention delivered by trained NHS health visitors. The findings indicate that the approach investigated to preventing PND and its associated problems cannot be recommended.

Adolescence is a critical transition phase between childhood and adulthood, when the burden of mental disorder may still be prevented. The aim of this study was to evaluate the continuity and discontinuity of behavioural problems in adolescence while taking into account the multiple co-variation of psychopathological traits and the complex role of recent stressful life events (SLEs).

This is a 5-year follow-up investigation of emotional and behavioural problems assessed by the newly developed Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) DSM-Oriented Scales (DOSs) in 420 general population subjects aged 15–19 years.

The DOSs showed good stability, even when multiple co-variation was taken into account. Longitudinal data showed that homotypic evolution of psychopathology was to be expected in the first place. Equifinality and multifinality were also found. Oppositional Defiant Problems emerged to be polyvalent predictors of both internalizing and externalizing problems. Furthermore, Oppositional Defiant Problems predicted more SLEs, which in turn predicted more Depression, Anxiety and Oppositional Defiant Problems. Mediational analyses confirmed the role of SLEs in partially accounting for the continuity of Oppositional Defiant Problems and for the heterotypic progression towards Affective Problems.

These data underscore early adolescence behavioural problems as an important focus for primary and secondary intervention.