Maxime Perrott
Institution
Bath Spa University
Title and Level of Submission
Children’s Mental Health and Well-being
Level 5
Date of Submission
16th February 2018
Tutor Name and Signature
Julie Bright
Feedback on Submission (from ECSDN)
A sound piece of work. Some amendments will be required prior to publication, on p3 para 3, please could you ‘soften’ language and use a term such as ‘lack of knowledge’ rather than ‘ignorance’
Please include correct ref for DfE (not DfES)
Well done
Date 26th February 2018
Children’s Mental Health and Well-being
A Mental health disorder is defined as a set of symptoms and behaviours that can be clinically diagnosed, and that often impact the social and personal functioning of an individual (Musgrave, 2017). The Department of Health discusses the role of mental well-being, stating that it ‘has a profound role in shaping physical health and contributing to life chances, as well as being important to individuals and as a societal measure’ (DoH, 2012, p. 39). Indeed, with the promotion of positive mental health comes the need to expose children to a variety of life experiences within a stable and supportive environment, that allows children to develop an optimistic outlook and the ability to ‘bounce back’ (Seligman cited in Lally, 2016, p. 222). Coupled with this, Dowling (2014), among others, has recognised the importance of mental and emotional well-being as a factor for life successes; with rational and emotional competence children are more likely to experience happiness in their life achievements. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (1954) has also placed mental factors of security, self-esteem and a sense of belonging as psychological needs of a person to be successful in life.
Unfortunately, throughout the UK health inequalities within Mental health provisions, services and policy are rife and mental health diagnoses have increased in recent years; the Children’s Society Policy Report state that as many as one in every eleven children aged eight to eleven can display symptoms of low subject well-being at any given time, that is 500,000 of Britain’s children (The Children’s Society, 2012). These children have been denied the ability to develop good and secure emotional well-being and are more likely to have experienced adversity at an early age, which ultimately pre-disposes them to mental health issues later in life (Musgrave, 2017).
Like many elements of children’s health and well-being, the mental health of a child directly correlates with parental health, values and beliefs; stress induced anxiety or post-natal depression, in expectant and new mothers, directly relates to increased behavioural and conduct concerns in children (House of Commons, 2015). In infancy, children whose mothers experience anxiety or depression are at greater risk of developing emotional or behavioural disorders, with these conditions twice as likely in mothers living under the poverty line and three times as likely in teenage mothers (Office of National Statistics, 2012). These parental challenges can be hugely detrimental a child’s early attachments to a main caregiver, something that Elfer (2007) discusses as paramount for empathy in a child and as reassurance their emotions have been understood. Importantly, these strong bonds at the start of life allow a child to develop resilience to stress, and it is the foundation from which a child can experience wider social attachments, as a loving and attentive adult is central to all developmental areas (Dowling, 2014).
The Children’s Society supports this emphasis on the need for strong early attachment in older children’s mental health, where it reads ‘Family relationships and amount of choice and autonomy have the most significant impact on well-being for children in the UK’ (2012, p.5), a well-established bond in early childhood is likely to result in positive family relationships in later childhood and beyond.
Despite this, there are several reasons why an infant may not receive the loving and attentive attachment they need. Chugani et al. (2001) studied Romanian babies living within institutions, who were severely deprived of loving and warm relationships during their first three years, which led to delayed brain, emotional and social development, poor well-being and very little chance of recovery. These children who experience lacking attachments and early life trauma are more likely to develop psychiatric disorders and mental health issues (Musgrave, 2017). In addition, pre-mature babies who spend their first few weeks or months in incubators miss out on the physical, skin-on-skin contact needing to bond with their mother or main carer. Penn (2015) found that pre-mature babies in hospitals where skin-on-skin contact had been encouraged, despite the need for incubation, could experience a greater bonding experience with their parents and higher overall well-being (discussed in Musgrave, 2017).
The principle of good and positive attachments for young children is reflected in the use of Key Persons in Early Years Education, a well-established custom that is not only implemented practice-wide but has also maintained its position as an indispensable requirement for Section 3, Safeguarding and Welfare in the newly revised EYFS 2017. The framework states that:
‘Each child must be assigned a key person. Their role is to help ensure that every child’s care is tailored to meet their individual needs, to help the child become familiar with the setting, offer a settled relationship for the child and build a relationship with their parents.’ (DfE, 2017, pp. 22-23)
Young children undoubtedly thrive within a familiar and predictable environment with a consistent routine; through their key person, a child entering an early years setting can establish a special relationship and attachment with an adult, so to explore their surroundings securely and free from stress. This relationship then directly effects learning, as a happy and contented child is more likely to learn and will produce significantly less levels of the chemical cortisol, detrimental to brain function (Dowling, 2014).
Resilience and self-regulation are further concepts that can be discussed in relation to a child’s mental well-being; resilience for a child is their ability to adapt to life’s changes and deal emotionally with difficulties. Again, a child’s earliest bonds and attachments directly affect their resilience and often parental styles may be passed through the generations to create similar experiences of mental health and resilience within family dynamics (Lally, 2016). Tamminen and Puura (2014) conclude that children learn how to control or self-regulate emotions because of their own temperaments, through socially referencing their parents and leading by example. Therefore, parenting styles and quality influence a child’s resilience, for example when a parent is attentive to a child’s moods, helping them to understand and regulate their emotions, they are more likely to protect a child’s resolve to emotional distress. In this way, a child will be able to withstand adversity and develop strategies of resilience, through self-regulation of emotions they are less likely to become overwhelmed by their emotions and held captive by impulses, enabling easier development of friendships, perseverance, concentrations, and achievement in school (Tassoni, 2006).
Undeniably, in recent years there has been an increased political and public discussion surrounding mental health provisions in the UK. Young Minds (2014) documents that one in ten children from ages five to sixteen has a diagnosable mental health condition; self-harming has increased by 68% in ten years and 7% of three-year-olds display some form of moderate to severe behavioural problems (cited by Maughan et al., 2004). With figures like these, preventing mental health problems in today’s young people has never been so paramount on both an individual and public health level, preventative measures are imbedded within government strategies and in May 2015 the Department of Education appointed a minister responsible for the country’s mental health (Musgrave, 2017). Indeed, Mental health provisions is a key political and social healthcare issue, with mental health services being under-funded and lacking provisions for some time.
Crucially, these issues have huge implications for practice; A survey by MindEd found that 38% of people who work with young children have little understanding of how to recognise the symptoms and behaviours of mental health problems in children, with many saying they would not seek guidance if they were uncertain, and 39% of men surveyed considered these behaviours and symptoms as an indication of unruly behaviour (discussed in The Lancet, 2014). Therefore, when practitioners lack sound knowledge of mental health issues and their symptoms, children may not have access to the essential early support and treatment they need. The Wave Trust report focuses on the necessity for practitioners to have a good understanding of child development, especially in the critical first two years, and recommends that at least one practitioner per setting has further knowledge of children’s mental health (Wave Trust, 2013). Ethically, we have a responsibility to continuously develop our knowledge as practitioners, but also to actively engage in observing the children in our care, as Padmore (2016) asserts, developmental delays or disruptions pinpointed through observation can often impact mental health and well-being of a child, and through early interventions a child has the best chance of a successful life.
Reference List:
Chugani, H., Bethan, M., Muzik, O., C., Nagy, F., and Chugani, D. (2001) ‘Local brain functional activity following early deprivation: a study of post-institutionalised Romanian orphanages’,Neuroimage, 14, pp. 1290 – 301.
Department of Education (2017) The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.Available from: (Accessed: 10 May 2017).
Department of Health (2012) Report of Children and Young People’s Health Outcomes Forum. Available from: (Accessed: 27 May 2017).
Dowling, M., (2014) Young Children’s Personal, Social and Emotional Development. 4th ed. London: Sage.
Elfer, P. (2007) Life at Two: Attachments, Key People and Development. Available at: (Accessed: 28 May 2017).
House of Commons (2015) Conception to Age 2: First 1001 Days. London: HMSO.
Lally, A. (2016) ‘Holistic Development: children’s health and wellbeing’, in Trodd, L. (ed) The Early Years Handbook for Students and Practitioners. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 212 – 230.
Maslow, A. H. (1954)Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Row.
Maughan, B., Brock, A., and Ladva, G. (2004) ‘Mental Health’, in Nessa, N. (ed.) The Health of Children and Young People. London: Office of National Statistics.
Musgrave, J. (2017) Supporting Children’s Health and Wellbeing. London: Sage.
Office of National Statistics (2012) Childhood, Infant and Perinatal Mortality in England and Wales. Available from: (Accessed: 27 May 2017).
Padmore, J. (2016) The Mental Health Issues of Children and Young People. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Tamminen, T. and Puura, K. (2014) ‘Infant mental health’, in Rutter, M. (ed.) Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 6th ed. London: Wiley, pp. 79 – 92.
Tassoni, P. (2016) ‘Home learning: a parent’s guide to self-regulation’, Nursery World, 2016(13), pp. 34-5. doi: 10.12968/nuwa.2016.13.34
The Children’s Society (2012) The Good Childhood Report: Promoting positive well-being for children. London: The Children’s Society.
The Lancet (2014) ‘Mental Health and Well-being in children and adolescents’, The Lancet, (386) 9924, p. 1183.
Wave Trust (2013) Conception to Age 2: The Age of Opportunity. Available at: (Accessed: 06 June 2017).