The picture of the discomfort of young French people is increasingly precise: just over 8% of children aged 3 to 6 who attend a nursery school in France experience at least one probable mental health difficulty, according to a study published this Tuesday December 10.
This is the first national mental health survey focusing on very young children in France. And a new part of the epidemiological study on the well-being and mental health of children aged 3 to 11 attending school in mainland France (Enabee) carried out by Public Health France.
1 in 12 children in kindergarten are affected, boys are more affected
Combining the views of parents and teachers on a representative sample of more than 2,600 children, this study, carried out in 2022, reveals that 8.3% of children in nursery school have “at least one probable mental health difficulty, emotional, oppositional or type of inattention/hyperactivity, impacting their daily life. In other words, approximately one in twelve children attending daycare in mainland France is affected.
“These data increase the dimension of the public health problem,” Stéphanie Monnier-Besnard, epidemiologist and head of the Enabee study project, told AFP. But “it is not a surprise that such young children could experience probable mental health difficulties; it is consistent with” all observations. And, he noted, “this is the same order of magnitude as the results of similar studies in France or in quite comparable countries, such as Germany or the United States.”
In detail, 1.8% of children from preschool to kindergarten have “emotional difficulties”, 5.9% have “oppositional difficulties”, 1.9% have “inattention/hyperactivity difficulties “estimates the study, based on data collected through questionnaires, online or by telephone, between May and July 2022.
“While greater sensitivity to mental health may lead to a slight overestimation of certain phenomena, this must be balanced against the fact that children’s mental health has long been neglected and taken less into account than their physical health,” observes Stéphanie Monnier-Besnard.
Another lesson: boys are more likely to have difficulties that impact their lives (11.3%) than girls (5.2%). “Regarding the differences between boys and girls, the results agree with the clinical observations of mental health professionals in particular,” Nolwenn Regnault, head of the “Perinatal, Early Childhood and Mental Health” unit at the SpF.
Discomfort linked to a “critical period of development”
Almost 13% of children attending kindergarten consulted a health professional at least once for psychological or learning difficulties in the twelve months prior to the study. And around a third of children who presented at least one type of probable difficulty with an impact on their daily life had consulted a mental health professional in the previous year.
However, “caution” must be exercised when interpreting the results, warns Public Health France, because “at these early ages, emotional or behavioral difficulties can evolve rapidly and their measurement is influenced by the perceptions and expectations of the adults who respond. And these are not clinical diagnoses but rather epidemiological representation. There is “no point of comparison with the pre-Covid period: Enabee describes the situation in 2022, a future edition of the study will make it possible to describe the evolution of children’s well-being and mental health,” said Nolwenn Regnault.
Knowing that “the mental health of children is closely related to multiple factors”, this study “makes it possible to identify them and address the factors that can alter it, from early childhood, a critical period of development,” stressed Dr. Caroline Semaille. , Director General of Public Health of France, in a press release.
This confirms the need to intervene from an early age and improve mental health support systems before the age of 6, according to the agency, which mentions, for example, psychosocial skills. Among children aged 6 to 11, 13% had at least one probable mental health disorder, according to the first part of the study, published in mid-2023 and which also incorporates the opinions of children.
Mental health was declared a “great national cause” in 2025 by the late Barnier government. A welcome choice in a sector in persistent crisis, where several voices have asked above all for sufficient resources.
Source: BFM TV
