ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2026
Children's mental health symptoms over three decades (1993-2022): a comparison of population-based cross-sectional samples.
Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Informal Coercion Experienced by Adolescents in Mental Health Care-A Systematic Review.International journal of mental health nursing · 2026Pooled it
- "I want to talk about it, but at the same time, I don't want to, so it's just easier to draw it": perceived benefits of an arts-based intervention to support children's basic psychological needs and well-being.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Concerns have been raised about an increase in children's mental health symptoms over the past 30 years, including after COVID-19 lockdowns. Yet, few studies have investigated variations over generations, while considering sex and socioeconomic status. We aimed to address this gap by comparing mental health symptoms (emotional distress, impulsivity/hyperactivity/inattention, disruptive behaviours) reported by classroom teachers of 11-year-olds in three population-based, prospective, representative cohorts in Quebec, Canada. Analyses included 1665 (83%) of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children, in 1993; 1305 (62%) of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, 2009; and 3871 (100%) of the Quebec Survey of Child Development in Kindergarten, 2022; ~50% boys. Teacher-rated symptoms on the validated Social Behavior Questionnaire showed higher scores of emotional distress and impulsive/hyperactive/inattentive symptoms in 2022 than 2009, and higher in 2009 than 1993 (very small-to-small effect sizes: Cohen's d 0.12 and 0.26 for emotional distress, 0.06 and 0.25 for impulsive/hyperactive/inattentive symptoms, respectively; P < 0.001). Disruptive behaviour symptoms scored lower in 2022 than 2009, though higher in 2009 than 1993, with very small effect sizes (Cohen's d: -0.15 and 0.09, respectively). Boys presented more impulsive/hyperactive/inattentive and disruptive behaviour symptoms than girls; girls showed more emotional distress than boys. Children from economically disadvantaged households (lowest 20% of income distribution) presented higher symptoms rates than advantaged children. These findings provide novel and timely evidence about variations in children's mental health symptom rates over three decades, underscoring the need for preventive interventions as early as elementary school, tailored differentially for boys and socioeconomically disadvantaged children.
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