Kids’ Emotional and Mental Health Comes Into Focus This Week

May 6 through May 12 is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, a time to focus on the emotional and behavioral health of children, as well as on the long-term effects of poor child mental health, such as depression and suicide.

In a 2010 survey, California parents from low-income households were more likely than higher-income parents to rate their child’s emotional health as very poor, poor, or fair.

Depression can diminish the quality of a young person’s life, resulting in fewer friends, less social support, greater stress, and lower academic achievement. Evidence suggests that in adolescence, depression and suicidal behavior are linked. Depression also is linked to exacerbation of chronic illnesses such as asthma and diabetes.

See related data on kisdata.org:

• Parents’ perception of behavioral and emotional health>>
• Suicide and self-inflicted injury>>
• Depression-related feelings>>

Posted by Stacey Angeles

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 1:12 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.