by Passing research by UCL shows that adversity in children in firstborns increases the mental health risks for all brothers and sisters, which emphasizes the need for early intervention and persistent family support
A recent study led by researchers from the University College London, VK, has shown that firstborns who have undergone negative experiences from childhood run a 71% higher risk of brothers and sisters with psychological problems.
The study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Policy Research Program, is published in The public health of Lancet.
Background
Traumatic, violent or neglected experiences from childhood that often come together within families and can have serious long -term and intergenerational effects on the mental health of family members.
Existing evidence indicates that these adverse child experiences influence several brothers and sisters in a family. However, it remains largely unknown how negative experiences from childhood with firstborn and mothers influence the mental health of other children within the same family.
In this study, researchers wanted to bridge this gap in knowledge by connected general practices and hospital health files of 333,048 first mothers and their 534.904 children, including both firstborns and brothers and sisters, born in England between 2002 and 2018.
They followed the entire study cohort from one year before birth to 18 years after birth in primary and secondary health care. They were specifically aimed at six types of unfavorable child experiences among firstborn, including child abuse, intimate partner violence, abuse of maternal agents, mental health problems for mothers, unfavorable family environments and high-risk presentations of child abuse.
They mainly wanted to investigate the connection between firstborns that were exposed to unfavorable childhood experiences from conception to the age of two (1000 days) and the risk of psychological problems in several children of the same mother (brothers and sisters).
Important observations
The study showed that about 20% of mothers included in the study have at least one child with a psychiatric problem, and 1.7% of mothers have two or more children with psychological problems between the age of five and 18 years.
Under firstborn who were included in the study, about 37% had at least one unfavorable experience in childhood and 10.9% had at least two adverse child experiences during the first 1000 days of their lives.
The most common setbacks in childhood had a mother with psychological problems, followed by unfavorable family environments, such as parental crime and homelessness.
The research in particular found that mothers with firstborns exposed to unfavorable childhood experiences increased the risk of having children with psychological problems, compared to mothers whose firstborn experienced no setbacks.
This translated into 12 extra children with psychological problems for every 100 mothers with firstborns exposed to negative experiences from childhood.
Mothers with firstborn exposed to setbacks had considerably more children with psychological problems (on average 30 children per 100 mothers) compared to mothers with firstborns who were not exposed to setbacks (an average of 17 children per 100 days).
The study found a consistently comparable risk of psychological problems with brothers and sisters in families with firstborns exposed to negative experiences from childhood. There were no differences in the risk of mental health problems between second and firstborn children or third and firstborn children.
Regarding the results of mental health care, the study showed that in families with firstborns exposed to setbacks, about 53% of the children have at least one admission of the hospital in the hospital for whatever reason; 10% has at least one contact -related contact of mental health care; And 5% have mental contact with mental health care.
Study of interest
This first study study reports that children in families with firstborns who are exposed to unfavorable experiences in children are considerably more likely to develop psychological problems and have higher percentages of emergency aid and mental health-related health care use.
Another important finding of the study is that mothers with firstborn exposed to three or more setbacks have the highest risk of having several children with psychological problems.
Shabeer Syed, main author of the article, said, although previous research has focused on the impact of adverse child experiences on individual children, our research reveals a step -by -step health risk that extends beyond the individual, which also affects the health of brothers and Sisters. This is probably due to the continuation of unfavorable child experiences within the family. When a child or parent presents himself with mental health problems, violence or other forms of adversity, it is essential to ask about the wider family context. “
Jessica Deighton, professor at the Anna Freud National Center for Children and Families and University College London, said: “With escalating rates of children and young people in contact with mental health care, early and effective prevention strategies are the key to improving well -being. These findings indicate that when we come across children who are confronted with important challenges such as domestic violence or poverty, we have to expand our focus to the whole family, including brothers and sisters. This would help to ensure that all children and young people in families who have dealt with adversity receive appropriate care as early as possible. ”
To achieve this, we want to see more financing for prevention schedules and the use of community assets – such as general practitioners and local organizations – that are crucial to identify and provide the needs of vulnerable young people. In collaboration with different groups of children and young people, there must also be the development of an extensive strategy for the prevention of mental health care in mental health care. ”
As mentioned by researchers, the study could not judge negative experiences from childhood with regard to the mental health of fathers or the use of drugs, since data in the health care of fathers is usually not linked to their children.
In addition, electronic health care data often underestimates intimate partner violence and child abuse as a result of non-applicable or detection and sub-renewal by clinicians.
In general, the study emphasizes the importance of early identification and persistent support for vulnerable first parents and their newborns to reduce mental health problems in the long term, health care needs and healthcare costs for the whole family.
