Maternal depression, behavioral profile and school performance in school-age children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare behavioral profile and school performance of school-age children living with a mother who presents clinical history of recurrent depression, diagnosed according to CID-10 criteria in order to verify the influences of such adversity. Thirty-eight mother-child dyads were evaluated using tests, interviews and questionnaires. Approximately two-thirds of the children presented behavioral and school performance difficulties with predominance of emotional and relationship problems, and impairment in the three areas of school performance which were assessed (writing, arithmetic and reading). Such difficulties may be associated with the negative impact of maternal depression. One-third of the children did not present difficulties, which suggests the use of protective mechanisms. The study highlights the importance of considering differences in children's profiles for the planning of mental health practices.

The effects of parental depression and anxiety on child behavior from 6 to 12 years old: a review

“…The results were analyzed according to the descriptors. The studies in this review predominantly elected maternal depression as the main impact factor on child behavior [28][29][30][31][32]34,[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] . Both in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies there are an association between maternal and children behavioral problems in general.…”

“…Only one study presents an association between children's emotional problems, school performance, and maternal depression, although there is a small characterization of the sample. Pavan et al 42 analyze that the group of children who had indicators of school or behavioral difficulties presented significant negative correlations between written language and emotional problems. Cardoso et al 32 indicate similar findings in moderate correlations amongst maternal depression, child social abilities problems, child cognitive problems, aggressiveness, and rule-breaking.…”