Mental health in Dutch children : an epidemiological study

At the time the present study was started (1982) correlations were not available between CBCL scores obtained from parents and independently obtained inforrnation on the same child through a teacher questionnaire~ nor between the CBCL and intensive clinical assessment of the same chi1d. A1though the number of publications on chi1d psychiatrie epidemio1ogy has increased over the last ten years, there are very few published accounts of investigations which atte~pt te replicate and refine existing techniques in pepulations different frem these for which the techniques were origina11y deve1oped. Ear1s (1980) stresses that trans-cultura1 attempts at replicating resu1ts with the samemethad represent an essentia1 means of assessing the extent to which features of children's behavior disorders are universal. At the time the present study was started, except for studies concerned with iso1ated symptoms such as sleep problems (Cohen-Matthijsen, 1980) and enuresis (Oe Jonge, 1969), there were no data available in the Nether1ands on the prevalenee and distribution of child mental health prob1ems of a wide age and behavier range in representative population samples. The availability of outpatient and inpatient child mental hea1th facilities in this country is in general arbitrarily determined and is not based on population data on the prevalenee and distri bution of behaviaral, emotional and developmental problems. Furthermore we were confronted with the fact that virtual1y no va1idated instruments for determining degree and type of child psychiatrie disorder in the Duteh popuiatien were avai1able. This serieus lack of basic research toe1s was not only felt as an obstaele for epidemiologie research. Therapy-eva1uation and etiological studies were a1so hampered by this situation