Supporting Early Childhood Mental Health

Early childhood and infant mental health encompasses the capacity of infants and young children to engage in emotional experiences, acquire knowledge, and establish relationships with others.

In young children from birth to age 5, this aspect is referred to as social-emotional growth in children. Science indicates that the building blocks of a healthy mental state are established during the initial stages of life.

The initial five years of life represent a period of rapid Neuro-developmental transformations and expansion, rendering it particularly vulnerable to external influences. It has long been recognized that early, positive dyadic interactions are essential for fostering ideal child development. Early childhood mental health entails the achievement of developmental as well as emotional milestones, acquiring healthy social skills, and gaining the ability to cope with challenges. The early experiences and relationships established during infancy and early childhood serve as the bedrock for the developing brain and lifelong well-being.

Promoting healthy social and emotional development in childhood facilitates several essential abilities like exercising self-control, handling and recognizing emotions, cultivating empathy, nurturing self-assurance, cooperativeness, and effective communication skills. The better the young children explore and engage with the world around them the better they perceive themselves.

A child’s relationship and interactions with his caregivers, parents, peers, family members, and educators, work in conjunction with genes to structure the architecture of a developing brain.

The emotional health of young children is intimately linked to the emotional well-being of their caregivers, parents, teachers, and family dynamics. When relationships are consistently responsive and nurturing, they have the capacity to shield young children from the negative impacts of external stressors. In most of the cases, Addressing potential mental health issues early in life can help prevent them from developing into full-blown illnesses.

During childhood a range of factors can influence a child’s mental health which include genetic factors like family history of mental illness, environmental factors such as exposure to traumatic experiences or abuse, and stressors arising from familial issues or school environment.

In addition to the mentioned factors, various other social and support-related elements play a significant role in shaping an individual’s mental health. These include personal encounters with discrimination, the strength of support provided by parents, peers, and teachers, as well as the presence of supportive figures both within and beyond the school environment.

Parents and educators can contribute to early childhood mental health by educating themselves about children mental health, Facilitating early diagnosis and treatment by healthcare professionals, ensuring that children achieve their developmental milestones, encouraging positive parenting techniques, knowing how to proceed when there is a concern and enhancing access to resources for children.

Hence early childhood mental health is crucial and the challenges to early development can be countered through the presence of a secure attachment with at least one primary caregiver, as well as other positive relationships that provide diverse forms of developmental support.

It is vital for the care providers to note how early years mental health can be supported.

Strategies to Support Early Childhood Mental Health and Well-being

Mental health among children could be the effect of environmental factors ranging from family circumstances to socio-economic inequities, massive technological development to encroaching social media, personal circumstances, and individual resilience. If strategies to overcome mental health problems are in place at home, in publicly accessible centers, and in schools, children can build emotional resilience. The bedrock of all such strategies is building trusting relationships and teaching positive responses and behaviors, to reduce sources of stress. This discourse is on strategies that can be introduced at home, at public centres, and at schools.

At Home

• Children should be taught & encouraged to identify and differentiate between emotions andbehaviours. Using puppets with different facial expressions could teach children emotions like happiness, sadness, and anger. Discussions could follow on how to cope with frustration and solve problems.
• Children should also be read to. Describing characters, understanding cause and effect, andlistening to the different ways characters solve problems or address issues can build emotional resilience.
• Children should be engaged in home chores, like picking leaves from the lawn, caring for a plant, helping to make a grocery list, laying the table, and helping with the laundry. Involving children in regular household chores creates a sense of belonging, ownership, and responsibility, which are productive pursuits for the mind.
• Families should play games that offer opportunities for children to learn to take turns, cooperate, and handle frustration. Board games, obstacle challenges, and mind sports are some of the options.
• Parents should learn to attentively listen to their children when they are talking and sharing their experiences. Discussing their experiences in a non-judgmental and open way can help children solve their problems at home and school.

At Publicly Accessible Centers

Hospitals and clinics, public parks, community centers, and shopping malls can be ideal places to engage and educate parents and children in various activities to learn about mental health and well-being. Bite-sized parenting education and mental health and well-being awareness sessions could be delivered at these locations, which can motivate parents to seek help from professionals. Professionals from various factions of society should be engaged to deliver engaging and meaningful content that can help raise aspirations and inspire families to seek community-based events for growth and learning.

In Schools

Schools are ideal community places to teach and build mental health awareness and resilience. Schools can promote social and emotional competency and build resilience through direct teaching and learning and even engage and educate parents and the wide community through school-based events and curricula. Strategies to be implemented in schools include:

• Ensuring a positive, safe school environment for all.
• Teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors and decision-making through lessons, games, and cross-curricular.
• Encouraging helping others, showing empathy, respect, acceptance, and tolerance for all.
• Encouraging good physical health and nutritional well-being by advocating healthy eating and positive lifestyle.

At the State Level

Countries should develop public health and well-being policies as core strategies to uplift people and build resilient nations. Policies for the overall well-being and education of children should be a priority as the future of nations depends on the growth of a strong and resilient society. Strategies for improving access to children’s healthcare, special needs, education, safety, and security through law-making and law enforcement should be prioritized. At the same time, governments should create policies for improved and accessible services for children and families to seek support and care to support mental health and well-being.

Moreover, governments should tackle the stigma and improve attitudes to mental illness as a general strategy to create awareness and promote health-seeking behaviours. As a result, governments should implement strategies to connect families to mental health care and understand gaps in the mental health workforce serving children.

Disclosure: All authors hold no conflict of interest and views are personal.

About the Lead Author: Dr Shelina Bhamani is a lead of ECD parenting and Asst Professor at the Department of ObGyn & Associate Director, Office of Allied Health, Aga Khan University