Mental Health: children and mental ill health

In 2004, ONS conducted a survey of Mental Health of Children and Young People (1797kb) in Great Britain (repeating a similar survey carried out in 1999). In 2004, among children aged 5-16 in Scotland:

• 8.5% had a mental disorder (Table 1)
• 5.5% had clinically significant conduct disorders; 2.5% were assessed as having emotional disorders (anxiety and depression); and 1.6% were rated as hyperactive. (Table 1)
• There was, between 1999 and 2004, a decrease in the proportion of those with an emotional disorder, from 4.5% to 2.5% (Table 1)
• Boys were more likely than girls to have a mental disorder (10% compared to 7%) (Table 2)
• There were no significant differences in the prevalence rates of any mental disorder between England and Scotland (Table 1)

 

 

Table 1. Prevalence of mental disorders in Scottish and English children aged 5-16 years, 1999 and 2004.

Type of disorder	1999 (Scotland)	2004 (Scotland)	2004(England)
	%	%	%
Emotional disorder	4.6	2.5	4.3
Conduct disorders	4.6	5.5	5.4
Hyperkinetic disorders	1.1	1.6	1.5
Any disorder	8.5	8.3	9.6

Source: The mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain, H Meltzer and R Gatward, London, HMSO, 2000

 

Table 2. Prevalence of mental disorders in Scottish schoolchildren, aged 5-16 years, by gender, 2004.

Type of disorder	Males	Females
	%	%
Emotional disorders	2.2	2.9
Conduct disorders	6.6	4.4
Hyperkinetic disorders	2.1	1.0
Any disorder	10.3	7.4

Source: The mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain, H Meltzer and R Gatward, HMSO, 2000