Children with Symptoms of Depression – What Do the Adults See?

Abstract

In order to find out whether parents and teachers report depressive symptoms in children with self-reported depression and which features are connected with sought psychiatric care, a sample of 5682 prepubertal children was assessed with the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Rutter A2 scale (RA) and Rutter B2 scale (RB). In stepwise regression analysis of parent report, depressed mood, unpopularity, social withdrawal, disobedience, inattentiveness, and stealing were associated with high CDI scores. The items of the teacher report associated with high CDI scores included poor school performance, restlessness, somatic complaints, unresponsiveness, being bullied, and absenteeism from school. Although the parents and teachers readily saw and reported depressive symptoms in children, only for a small minority of children with multiple depressive symptoms had psychiatric care been sought or even considered. The symptoms associated with sought psychiatric care for depressed children were somatic (soiling, asthma) and behavioural (disobedient, restless). The results indicate that a large number of children with multiple depressive symptoms are left without necessary psychiatric assessment and help.