title: The unknown citizen: epidemiological challenges in child mental health.
abstract: Growing concern about the global burden of child mental health disorders has generated an increased interest in population-level efforts to improve child mental health. This in turn has led to a shift in emphasis away from treatment of established disorders and towards prevention and promotion. Prevention efforts are able to draw on a substantial epidemiological literature describing the prevalence and determinants of child mental health disorders. However, there is a striking lack of clearly conceptualised and measurable positive outcomes for child mental health, which may result in missed opportunities to identify optimal policy and intervention strategies. In this paper, we propose an epidemiological approach to child mental health which is in keeping with public health principles and with the WHO definition of health, and which is grounded in current thinking about child development. Constructs such as competence offer the opportunity to develop rigorous outcome measures for epidemiological research, while broader ideas about 'the good life' and 'the good society' derived from philosophical thinking can enable us to shape policy initiatives based on normative ideas of optimal child mental health that extend beyond individuals and undoubtedly beyond the traditional boundaries of the health sector.
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kvalsvig
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Policy Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Gerry
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Redmond
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goldfeld
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D014943:Global Health; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008603:Mental Health; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Child Health; Epidemiology; Mental Health; Public Health Policy; Research Design in Epidemiology