Internalizing/Externalizing Problems and Sensory Processing Alteration in Children Referred to Child Mental Health...

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Sensory Processing

Background:

• Internalizing and externalizing problems in children are often linked to sensory processing (SP) alterations.
• Severe SP alterations are considered sensory processing disorder (SPD).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between childhood mental health problems and the degree of sensory processing alteration.
• To examine children referred to a child mental health center (CMHC).

Main Methods:

• Sixty-four children (ages 6-8) referred to a CMHC in Spain participated.
• Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18) and Child Sensory Profile (CSP-2).
• Statistical analyses compared childhood problem scores across different sensory processing alteration levels.

Main Results:

• Children with severe SP alteration showed significantly higher internalizing and externalizing problem scores.
• Moderate to severe SP alterations were associated with clinical levels of internalizing, externalizing, and total problems.
• Specifically, severe SP alteration correlated with higher scores in withdrawn, depressed, attention, social, and thought problems.

Conclusions:

• Sensory processing alteration is significantly associated with increased internalizing and externalizing problems in referred children.
• Clinical levels of problems are particularly evident with moderate to severe sensory processing alteration.
• Integrating sensory processing assessments into the diagnostic process for childhood mental health concerns is recommended.