Middle childhood and pre-adolescence

This chapter first examines key characteristics of middle childhood, followed by a look at the most important mental health and risk features in this developmental age group. The authors then examine the array of programmatic responses to these issues, with examples of interventions aimed at mental health promotion and the prevention of mental disorders and reduction of risk in this age and developmental cohort. The dearth of empirical work on middle childhood development issues, and particularly with regard to mental health and health promotion research in low and middle income countries, tends to make this a difficult task. In this chapter the authors proceed on the basis of common challenges faced by children in middle childhood.