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Children 's Mental Health Problems Essay

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The influences that have been found to increase the likelihood that children will experience mental health problems are known as risk factors. Some of the influences include children’s physical, social and emotional development, family circumstances, sense of belonging to school, and access to resources and support services.
The idea that certain risk factors make it more likely that children will experience poor mental health is based on research findings that show how frequently, and under what conditions, children’s mental health difficulties occur. Knowing what kinds of factors put children at risk of mental health difficulties helps health experts plan and develop the kinds of support and resources needed to be able to intervene early to improve children’s mental health (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). It also helps to guide efforts to prevent mental health problems developing.
Some of the risk factors include drugs and poverty. For example drug exposed infants are subject to a variety of risks including decreased birth weight, head size, and length among infants born at 33 weeks or more. When these children reach preschool and elementary school they present various academic, cognitive and behavior issues for teachers. Their cognitive, social and emotional skills are inconsistent with developmental levels. Their cognitive or behavior deficiencies are evidenced in learning, impulse control, communication, social cues or perception, memory, poor

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