Psychic disorders among pre‐school children in a geographically delimited area of Aarhus county, Denmark

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Abstract
A study was undertaken concerning prevalence of psychic disorders among 175 5-6 yr old, pre-school children randomly selected from the general population in the municipality of Aarhus and the island Samso of Aarhus County, Denmark. Deviant behavior was arbitrarily defined, with a symptom considered aberrant if it occurred in 10% or less of the children studied. Mental health of the children was assessed by the number of deviant symptoms, opinions of the parents and personal assessment in which all the families were interviewed. Of the probands, 35 (20%) showed good adjustment, 113 (65%) were coping well with only minor symptoms, and 27 children (15%) were poorly adjusted. A high prevalence of psychosomatic, behavioral, and emotional symptoms was observed, some of them more frequently among boys than girls. No significant difference was found between urban and rural children. The need for psychiatric help even among supposedly normal, pre-school children was discussed and emphasized.

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