Secular Trends in Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Background: The study of secular trends in child and adolescent mental health is a relatively new research direction in world psychiatry. Preliminary summary of recent publications on this topic is necessary for understanding of overall tendencies and further study of problem.

The aim: to evaluate studies of secular trends in child and adolescent mental health examining changes in the prevalence and levels of psychiatric problems during the past decades.

Methods: search for scientific articles using the keywords “secular trends”, “time trends”, “child and adolescent mental health” and similar terms in PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science and other databases. The findings on the prevalence and persistence of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders in different countries are summarised, as well as the impact of child and adolescent mental health problems on health and well-being across the life course. The methodological aspects of research on secular trends are highlighted; widely used standardised measures for assessing child and adolescent mental health are presented. The findings on secular trends in child and adolescent competencies and levels of mental health problems in different countries are summarised along with possible causes of identified changes.

Conclusion: over the last two decades, there was a decrease in adolescent antisocial behavior and substance use in many, but not all, countries worldwide. In developed countries, the prevalence of affective problems increased along with associated help seeking from mental health services. If key conceptual and methodological challenges can be addressed, research on secular trends may shed light on the mechanisms involved in the development of mental health, identify possible causes of disturbance and provide important pointers for the development of intervention programmes that focus on promoting child and adolescent mental health.

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