White children ‘more susceptible to poor mental health’
WHITE children are more likely to suffer mental health issues than any other group, a study has found.
The rise of marital breakdown is blamed for the higher instance of emotional problems among white youngsters, with researchers pointing to “better family cohesion” in ethnic communities.
A report today publishes findings from a survey of children’s mental health and well-being in England. Researchers at University College London and the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families studied 30,000 children aged 11 to 14.
They found white children significantly more likely to experience mental health issues than those from black, Asian, mixed and other ethnic groups.
Children were scored on answers to questions about their emotions, including depression, anxiety and tearfulness. If the score passed a threshold, there was a “high likelihood” that counselling was necessary.
One in five white children passed the threshold compared with one in seven from other ethnic groups.
Dr Jess Deighton, from UCL, who led the research, said the discrepancy could be partially explained by ethnic communities having “better family cohesion or having a more diverse group of friends, bringing more social capi- tal” than their white counterparts.
She added it was possible that white children thought it more socially acceptable to talk about their emotions than those from other backgrounds and were therefore more likely to report mental health issues.
Commenting on the research, Prof Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at Kent University, said
that family breakdown “does have an impact” on children’s mental health. The difference is pronounced when comparing white children with those from Asian backgrounds, where the instance of divorce is far lower, he added.
Prof Furedi said that white families increasingly lack the “moral confidence” to chastise youngsters for misbehaving and instead blame mental health issues, which leaves children “recycling” their parents’ outlook.
“The tragedy is that parents encourage children to develop mental health issues by talking about how depressed and stressed out we are,” he said.
“It has destructive consequences. By the time these children get to univer- sity they feel extremely disorientated and self-obsessed, and they find it difficult to aspire to autonomy. The Asian culture, for example, is more governed by religious or moral explanations rather than psychological ones.”
Thomas Pascoe, campaign director of the Coalition for Marriage said the research supported the view that “communities in which parents stay married have healthier, happier children as a result”.
The research also found that girls were more than twice as likely to report mental health issues than boys. A quarter of girls came above the threshold compared with 11 per cent of boys. Reasons could include the pressures on girls over body image, as well as experiencing stress from school work and exams, according to Dr Deighton.
The children surveyed will be questioned annually over the next five years. Dr Deighton added: “There appears to be a strong and consistent association between deprivation and mental health problems.”