The ARCH Lab has published a new paper titled “Trajectories of Psychopathology Among Youth with Physical Illness” in the journal Child Psychiatry and Human Development, using data from the MY LIFE Study.
The paper aimed to understand how mental health issues change over 24 months in young people with chronic physical illnesses (CPI), validate different mental health groups, and find characteristics linked to each group. The study involved 263 young people aged 2-16 years with CPI and their parents participating in the MY LIFE Study. They were assessed at the start, and then again at 6, 12, and 24 months. Parents reported on their children’s mental health using the Emotional Behavioural Scales.
Researchers used a method called latent class growth analysis to identify different mental health patterns. They found three main patterns: low-stable (LS), moderate-decreasing (MD), and high-decreasing (HD). Older youth, those with higher disability scores, parents with more psychological distress, and families with higher incomes were more likely to be in the higher mental health issue groups (HD and MD) compared to the low-stable group (LS).
Overall, most parents reported low levels of mental health issues in their children over the 24 months, but over one-third had symptoms close to clinical levels. Identifying these predictors can help find at-risk youth with CPI early for mental health issues.
