A large body of literature has demonstrated that there are developmental differences in mental health problems. However, less is known about the development of mental health problems in ethnic minority children, particularly at the population level. Using a detailed ethnic classification and nationally representative data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 18, 521, 49% female, 18% ethnic minority), this study examines ethnic differences in children’s mental health problems and trajectories of mental health from ages 3 to 14 years. Growth curve modeling revealed that ethnic minority children followed different developmental trajectories of internalizing and externalizing problems than white children, either in terms of the mean-level and/or rate of change across age. These differences were not explained by child sex, socioeconomic status, maternal depressive symptoms, and maternal immigrant status, highlighting the need for further research exploring the factors that underpin ethnic inequalities in child mental health.

大量文献表明，心理健康问题存在发育差异。然而，人们对少数民族儿童心理健康问题的发展知之甚少，特别是在人口层面。使用来自英国千年队列研究（n = 18, 521, 49% 女性，18% 少数民族），本研究考察了 3 至 14 岁儿童心理健康问题和心理健康轨迹的种族差异。生长曲线模型显示，少数民族儿童的内化和外化问题的发展轨迹与白人儿童不同，无论是在平均水平和/或跨年龄变化率方面。这些差异不能用儿童性别、社会经济地位、母亲抑郁症状和母亲移民身份来解释，强调需要进一步研究探索儿童心理健康中种族不平等的基础因素。