*Janice Ng Wan Leng and Sam Jeng Mun

Abstract: Children’s mental health concerns have become increasingly prevalent in recent years. In Malaysia, approximately one in six children experiences mental health problems, yet limited research has focused specifically on primary school-aged children. Given ongoing constraints in school counselling resources and high counsellor-to-student ratios, systematic descriptive data on children’s emotional well-being are essential to inform early and school-based mental health initiatives. Therefore, this study aims to explore children’s psychological distress and generate empirical evidence to support targeted intervention planning. A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed, and participants were recruited through convenience sampling. This study adopted a quantitative research design, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-Youth Version (DASS-Y) was used to assess children’s psychological distress. Findings from the self-report measure indicate that the majority of children reported psychological distress within the normal range.

Keywords: Mental health, psychological distress, children, primary school students, Malaysia