Epidemiology of emotional and psychological problems in Iranian children: Protocol of a cross-sectional study in Isfahan.

Background: The present study aimed at providing comprehensive epidemiological data about the prevalence of psychological and emotional problems in a representative sample of Iranian children and evaluates the major and common determinants of parents and family environment of these problems.

Materials and methods: The epidemiology of emotional and psychological problems in Iranian children is a cross-sectional study was conducted on 786 families and their 800 children during 2019-2021 in Isfahan, Iran. Personality traits, psychological health, marital satisfaction, individual's perceptions of his/her family and quality of life of parents were evaluated using Iranian-validated questionnaires. Various aspects of emotional, general, psychological, and sleep health as well as physical activity levels and nutritional habits of children also have been assessed using Iranian validated instruments. Data on sociodemographic characteristics representing parents and family status also have been collected.

Results: The mean age of parents and children was 39.5 ± 5.5 and 10.20 ± 1.90 (years), respectively. The mean duration of marriage was 16.1 ± 5.1 years and majority of parents his or her wife were at bachelor degree while parents with other degrees of education were sufficiently available in our study. The participated children were nearly equally distributed in terms of gender. A large portion (81.9%) of questionnaires about children was filled by mothers. Majority of children (62.2%) were first birth order.

Conclusion: The current study provides comprehensive data about various psychological, emotional, and educational problems of Iranian children and new insights about family environment and parental interrelationship as key risk factors for the aforementioned problems in which may have implications for both clinical and preventive psychological health to improve individual educational and treatment efficacy and problem-solving in problematic children.