Mental health of children.

We describe the findings on the current state and challenges of pediatric psychiatry in Fukushima prefecture following the Great East Japan Earthquake. When examining the time elapsed after the earthquake, there is an impression that psychiatric problems become apparent in the early period after the earthquake in mothers who had demonstrated vulnerability in development and nurturing before the earthquake. However, at the current time more than three years since the earthquake, we are under the impression that psychiatric and behavioral symptoms are observed even in infants who had been on a good course for development and nurturing and had a high degree of satisfaction before the earthquake. A continuous long-term study is necessary in the future to further investigate this issue.