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Perceptions of self, mother and family and behavior of prepubertal depressed children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

A. Brand-Gothelf ,
N. Yoeli-Bligh ,
E. Gilboa-Schechtman ,
N. Benaroya-Milshtein  and
A. Apter
A. Brand-Gothelf*
Affiliation:
The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqwa, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
N. Yoeli-Bligh
Affiliation:
The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqwa, Israel Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Science Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
E. Gilboa-Schechtman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Science Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
N. Benaroya-Milshtein
Affiliation:
The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqwa, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
A. Apter
Affiliation:
The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqwa, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
*
*Corresponding author at: The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, 14, Kaplan Street, Petah Tiqwa 49202, Israel. Tel.: +972 3 925 3617; fax: +972 3 925 3684. E-mail address:agothelf@gmail.com (A. Brand-Gothelf).
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Abstract

Purpose:

To characterize the perceptions of self, mother and family of prepubertal children and to determine if the perceptions of children with depression and their behavior towards their mothers are different from children with anxiety disorders and nonpsychiatric controls.

Methods:

Children (aged 7–13 years) with major depressive disorder (n = 30), anxiety disorders (n = 37) and nonpsychiatric controls (n = 32) underwent structured psychiatric evaluations and completed questionnaires on their perceptions of themselves and their relations with their mothers and families. The child–mother dyad was observed during structured interactions.

Results:

Self-perceptions of depressed children were significantly more negative than those of children with anxiety and controls. Depression severity negatively correlated with the child's self-perception and positively correlated with perceptions of the mother as being more rejecting, controlling, less accepting and less allowing autonomy, and of the family as being less cohesive. Depression severity was also positively associated with the child's hostile attitude towards the mother during the interactions.

Conclusion:

Our findings of greater negative perceptions of self, mother and family in depressed children compared to children with anxiety disorders and nonpsychiatric children suggest that approaches specifically addressing negative perceptions and targeting familial relationships could be especially effective for treating young children with depression.

Keywords

DepressionChildrenAnxietySelf-esteemPerceptionFamily

Information

Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 69 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2015

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