Taken from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-03-kids_N.htm


Parents of about 15% of kids spoke to school staff or health care providers about their children's emotional and behavior problems in the last year, according to a survey released Wednesday, the first-ever to gauge the issue.

Nearly 1 out of 5 boys had parents who discussed such difficulties, and about 1 out of 10 girls, says the report from more than 17,000 parents with children 4 to 17 years old. The survey, released by the National Center for Health Statistics, was done in 2005 and 2006.

There's no comparable earlier survey, but some children's mental health experts were surprised at the extent of concern, especially for boys — and divided as to whether it's a good or bad sign.

About 5% of children were prescribed medicine, mostly for attention-deficit disorder (ADHD), with another 5% receiving other treatment, such as therapy, alone or combined with medication.

Bringing concerns out in the open is all to the good, says David Fassler, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and clinical professor at the University of Vermont. "More and more American parents are recognizing the symptoms of emotional and behavior problems, and they're asking for help," he says. The survey was done after pediatric use of ADHD medications and antipsychotics had skyrocketed, show figures from Medco Health Solutions, a large pharmacy benefit management company. Antidepressant prescriptions dropped offafter the Food and Drug Administration ordered tougher safety warnings about use of the pills by children in 2004.

The high number of parents who confide worries shows "the very, very narrow range of normalcy allowed for children these days," says behavioral pediatrician Lawrence Diller of Walnut Creek Calif., author of The Last Normal Child. "Welcome to the age of anxiety, where more is expected of children academically and in self-discipline, while both parents are working, so there's less support and structure."

For kids who do get counseling, 39% receive it at school, and 27% at their doctor's office, the survey finds. More pediatricians are bringing mental health experts into their offices, or bringing them on-board as consultants, says Jane Foy, a pediatrics professor at Wake Forest University and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Pediatricians are hearing more about mental health issues, and therapy services are sparse, especially for children whose problems are not severe, she says.

Some school districts have increased their mental health services for students, says Kathy Cowan of the National Association of School Psychologists. "But there's still a huge dearth of help for kids in many districts," she adds.