Adult Consequences of Child Psychopathology

Child and adolescent psychopathology is a great burden to individuals, their families, and to society at large. Children and adolescents with behavioral and emotional problems suffer from impairments in several domains of functioning, including difficulties with friendship, self-esteem and school functioning. Parents often suffer from a lack of knowledge about their child’s problems, which keeps them from seeking professional help and which causes persistence of problems, difficulties in school, poor family relations, and concurrent psychopathology. Society is faced with the consequences of school dropout and higher workload, but also with costs associated with mental health care, police and the judicial apparatus. Psychopathology in children not also disturbs children’s functioning, it may also have long lasting consequences into adulthood. For example, difficulties in sustaining intimate relationships, in educational success and in building up a professional career. Longitudinal studies of the developmental course of psychopathology from childhood into adulthood are needed to determine which children are at increased risk of lifetime psychopathology. These children should be given special attention in prevention and interventional programs by mental health care professionals working with children and adolescents. This may reduce long-term continuity of psychopathology.

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