BACKGROUND "The gender gap" refers to a lifelong higher rate of emotional problems in girls, as compared to boys, that appears during adolescence. The gender gap is a well-replicated finding among older adolescents and is assumed to be a cross-cultural phenomenon. However, these cross-cultural studies have not investigated the gender gap in ethnic minorities but sampled ethnic majority adolesce...

The theory of 'psychosomatogenic family types' is often used in treatment of somatizing adolescents. This study investigated the validity of distinguishing 'psychosomatogenic family types' based on parents' self-reported family features. The study included a Flemish general population sample of 12-year olds (n = 1428). We performed cluster analysis on 3 variables concerning parents' self-report...

The reduction of coercive or inadequate parenting is essential if the mental health status of Australian children and adolescents is to be improved. Of the available approaches that address parenting practices, behavioural family interventions have the strongest empirical support and are effective in reducing parenting practices that contribute to the development of behavioural and emotional pr...

We investigated the long-term effects of parental divorce in childhood on demographic outcomes in young adulthood, using a British longitudinal national survey of children. Our analyses control for predisruption characteristics of the child and the family, including emotional problems, cognitive achievement, and socioeconomic status. The results show that by age 23, those whose parents divorced...

BACKGROUND Preschool language and neurodevelopmental problems often persist and impede learning. The aims of the current study are to assess the uptake of a new universal 30 month health visitor contact and to quantify the prevalence of language delay and social/emotional difficulties. METHODS All families of 30 month old children in four Glasgow localities were offered a visit from their hea...

UNLABELLED Smoking is a highly addictive behaviour, often initiated during adolescence. It is suggested that smoking is associated with behavioural and emotional problems. This study aims to assess the impact of psychosocial problems on smoking initiation and vice versa. METHOD We obtained data on self-reported psychosocial problems and smoking of adolescents at the age of 13 years and 2 year...

BACKGROUND Area deprivation negatively affects health and lifestyles, among which child behaviours. The latter may aggravate the effects of area deprivation on parental health due to higher rates of parenting stress. However, evidence on the influence of the living environment on parenting stress is mostly lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of area deprivation and urbaniza...