Study: Young children need better treatment for mental health problems

By Staff Writer

A new study debunks the myth that young children cannot be afflicted by mental health disorders and reveals that many of these kids do not receive the treatment that they need.

The report, which appears in the February issue of American Psychologist, concludes that toddlers and infants can react to the meaning of other people's intentions and actions. Thus, they can suffer from many of the same emotional issues that adolescents and adults do, but they cannot verbalize their hardships.

The authors found that trauma, maltreatment and poverty can all contribute to mental health problems among young kids. The study cited data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which revealed that approximately 80 percent of the children who died from abuse and neglect between 2008 and 2010 were younger than 4 years old.

Because most of these feelings of anger, sadness or fear cannot be detected by many parents, the researchers suggested that mental health consultations should be integrated into infant child care, early education and at-home programs.

Adolescents who suffer from emotional disorders that were untreated during childhood may benefit from wilderness therapy programs, many of which provide help for troubled teens.