Belden Andy C, Luby Joan L
Both authors are affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Mr. Belden is also affiliated with Saint Louis University.
Both authors are affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Mr. Belden is also affiliated with Saint Louis University.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2006 Feb;45(2):213-222. doi: 10.1097/01.chi.0000189133.59318.5e.
To investigate the relationship between preschool depression severity, observed behavior, and parental emotional support in a population of 3.0- to 5.6-year-olds and their mothers.
One hundred fifty preschoolers who underwent a comprehensive mental health assessment during which DSM-IV diagnoses were derived were included in this analysis. Child and parent behaviors during challenging structured dyadic tasks were systematically coded. Dyads with preschoolers in three diagnostic groups of interest were explored: depression, disruptive, and healthy. Depression severity sum scores were derived for children in all of the groups.
Depression severity accounted for a significant (p < .05) portion of the variance in preschoolers' persistence, compliance, and enthusiasm during dyadic tasks after controlling for the effects of age and gender. Depression severity was also significantly associated with parental emotional support, which was itself associated with all three preschool behaviors. When the effect of parental support was controlled for statistically, however, preschoolers' depression severity was no longer significantly associated with observed persistence or compliance, whereas the relationship between depression severity and enthusiasm remained significant.
Maternal emotional support mediated the relationship between preschoolers' depression severity and their persistence and compliance but not the relationship between depression severity and enthusiasm. Findings have important clinical implications because they suggest that both external relational and internal child factors may be operating in preschool depression.
探讨3.0至5.6岁儿童及其母亲群体中，学前儿童抑郁严重程度、观察到的行为与父母情感支持之间的关系。
本分析纳入了150名接受全面心理健康评估并得出DSM-IV诊断结果的学龄前儿童。在具有挑战性的结构化二元任务中，对儿童和父母的行为进行系统编码。对处于三个感兴趣诊断组的学龄前儿童二元组进行了探究：抑郁组、破坏性行为组和健康组。得出了所有组中儿童的抑郁严重程度总分。
在控制了年龄和性别的影响后，抑郁严重程度在学龄前儿童二元任务中的坚持性、顺从性和积极性方面的方差中占显著（p < .05）比例。抑郁严重程度也与父母情感支持显著相关，而父母情感支持本身与所有三种学龄前行为都有关联。然而，在对父母支持的影响进行统计学控制后，学龄前儿童的抑郁严重程度与观察到的坚持性或顺从性不再显著相关，而抑郁严重程度与积极性之间的关系仍然显著。
母亲的情感支持介导了学龄前儿童抑郁严重程度与其坚持性和顺从性之间的关系，但未介导抑郁严重程度与积极性之间的关系。研究结果具有重要的临床意义，因为它们表明外部关系因素和儿童内部因素可能都在学前抑郁中起作用。
