Prevalence of parental mental health conditions among children aged 0–16 years in Denmark: A nationwide register-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim: Parental mental health conditions adversely affect the children. Information on the prevalence of parental mental health conditions is needed to help policymakers allocate resources appropriately. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of children with parental mental health conditions in Denmark and further estimate the age-specific prevalence and geographical variation. Methods: In this nationwide register-based cross-sectional study, we included all children born between 2000 and 2016 if they resided in Denmark on 31 December 2016. Information on both maternal and paternal mental health conditions was retrieved from primary and secondary healthcare registers. Parental mental health conditions were categorised in three severity groups: minor, moderate, and severe. We estimated the proportion of children with parental mental health conditions on 31 December 2016. Results: Of the 1,106,459 children aged 0–16 years, 39.1% had at least one parent with a mental health condition. The prevalence increased with age of the children until the age of six years. Geographical variation in the prevalence ranged from 29.0% to 48.3% in the 98 municipalities. Minor parental mental health conditions (23.5%) were more common than moderate (13.5%) and severe parental mental health conditions (2.2%). Hospital-diagnosed parental mental health conditions were prevalent in 12.8% of the children. Conclusions: Two in five children aged 0–16 years in Denmark have parents with a mental health condition and geographical variation exists. The high prevalence of children with parental mental health conditions is an important public health challenge, which calls for attention.