Mental health disorders and physical risk factors in children with cerebral palsy: a cross‐sectional study

Aim To examine the prevalence of mental health disorders among children with and without cerebral palsy (CP), and to examine how physical risk factors in children with CP might mitigate any elevated risk of mental health disorders in this population. Method Children from 6 years to 17 years of age with (n=111) and without (n=29 909) CP from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health were included in this cross‐sectional study. Mental health disorders included depression, anxiety, behavior/conduct problems, and attention deficit disorder/attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Physical risk factors included physical activity (number of active days ≥60min), sleep duration, and pain. Results Adjusting for sociodemographics, children with CP had higher odds of mental health disorders (odds ratio [OR]=2.7–7.1, p