Child and adolescent mental health problems in Tyva Republic, Russia, as possible risk factors for a high suicide rate

High rates of child mental health problems in the Russian Federation have recently been documented; the rates of youth suicide are among the highest in the world. Across the Russian regions, Republic of Tyva has one of the highest rates of child and adolescent suicide and the lowest life expectancy at birth. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and associations of mental health problems in Native Tyvinian children and adolescents using internationally recognised measures and diagnoses. A two-stage, two-phase design involved selection of schools in five rural settlements in Western Tyva and two schools in the capital city followed by selection of Native Tyvinian children in grades 3–4 (ages 9–10) and 6–7 (ages 14–15). In the first phase, a screening measure of psychopathology, the Rutter Teacher Questionnaire, was obtained on 1048 children with a 97 % participation rate. In the second phase, more detailed psychiatric assessments were carried out for subgroups of screen-positive and screen-negative children. The prevalence of mental health problems was about 25 %, ranging from 40 % in adolescent boys from rural areas to 9 % in adolescent girls from the city. The patterning of disorders and risk factors were similar to those in other countries, rural areas were associated with an increased risk of psychopathology. The findings indicate that there is an urgent need for interventions to reduce risk in this population and provide effective help for Tyvinian children and adolescents with mental health problems.