How many children in Australia are at risk of adult mental illness

Objective:To estimate the prevalence of children in the Australian population with risk factors for adult mental illness.Method:Key risk factors and risk domains were identified from a 2013 review of longitudinal studies on child and adolescent determinants of adult mental illness. Data items were identified from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children that map onto the risk domains and were used to estimate the prevalence of these key individual risk factors and the magnitude of multiple risk in children aged 3 months to 13 years.Results:Even by infancy, risk factors for adult mental illness are highly prevalent, with 51.7% of infants having multiple risks. In 10 infants, 1 was born to mothers who consumed daily alcohol and 1 in 8 to mothers who smoked cigarettes daily during pregnancy. Also, 10.5% of infants were in families where the parents had separated, which increased to 18% in 10–11 year-olds. Psychological problems in the clinical range (based on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire...