Family Life and Child Mental Health - A Representative Study in India

India is a pluralistic and multi-ethnic society, consisting of extremely complex family system. Indian families are facing tremendous pressure both in internal and external world, the most affected are the children, who are under tremendous pressure psychologically to adjust with the familial changes, particularly parental expectations and societal competitions to excel in every field of their life. The irony of the situation in India is that, in spite of the progress in the field of economic growth, educational development, science and technology, the percentage of children with mental health problems has doubled in the last decade or so. The present work was undertaken to examine the prevalence, pattern and factors associated with child mental health in terms of behavioural and emotional problems. The results indicated the prevalence of mental health problems among children was found to be 14.8%. Most highly reported behavioural problems among preschoolers were externalizing problems, especially among boys; whereas internalizing problems. The book highlights the importance of providing parent education and training for managing child mental health in India.