Prosocial behaviour and happiness among children aged 6 to 11 years in Canada.

The vast majority of Canadian children aged 6 to 11 had normative levels of parent-rated prosocial behaviour across survey cycles.

• Prosocial behaviour was assessed using the prosocial subscale of the parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, with normative defined as scoring 8 or higher.
• Prevalence of normative prosocial behaviour ranged from 89.6% in 2007–2009 to 90.2% in 2014–2015.
• Data were drawn from the first six cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey.
• Prevalence was described as 'relatively stable across time.'

Around nine in ten Canadian children aged 6 to 11 were perceived as usually 'happy and interested in life' across survey cycles.

• Perceived happiness prevalence was 92.0% in 2007–2009 and 91.1% in 2018–2019.
• Happiness was also described as 'relatively stable across time.'
• The measure captured children described as being usually 'happy and interested in life.'
• Data spanned six cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey.

Normative parent-rated prosocial behaviour was more prevalent among females than males.

• Prevalence of normative prosocial behaviour was 93.8% among females compared to 83.3% among males.
• This represents a difference of 10.5 percentage points between sexes.
• This sex difference was identified as a significant distributional finding across the study population.

Normative parent-rated prosocial behaviour was more common among children aged 8 to 9 years than among those aged 6 to 7 years.

• Prevalence was 89.8% among 8- to 9-year-olds compared to 85.6% among 6- to 7-year-olds.
• No statistically significant difference was reported between 8- to 9-year-olds and 10- to 11-year-olds in the abstract.
• Age group comparisons were made across three groups: 6–7, 8–9, and 10–11 years.

Perceived happiness was higher among younger children (aged 6 to 7 years) than older children (aged 10 to 11 years).

• Prevalence of perceived happiness was 94.3% among 6- to 7-year-olds compared to 88.9% among 10- to 11-year-olds.
• This represents a difference of 5.4 percentage points between the youngest and oldest age groups examined.
• No significant difference in happiness by sex was reported in the abstract.

Monitoring childhood positive mental health (PMH) represents a gap in Canadian public health surveillance.

• The study used prosocial behaviour and perceived happiness as two potential PMH indicators.
• Data came from the first six cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey for children aged 6 to 11 years.
• The study was framed as addressing a surveillance gap rather than a clinical or intervention research question.