Okewole Adeniran O, Adewuya Abiodun O, Ajuwon Ademola J, Bella-Awusah Tolulope T, Omigbodun Olayinka O
Child and Adolescent Unit, Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro Abeokuta, Nigeria.
Department of Behavioral Medicine, Lagos State University College of Medicine/Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2016 Sep 2;10(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s13034-016-0115-6. eCollection 2016.
Children with recognized, diagnosable mental and neurological disorders are in addition prone to emotional and behavioral problems which transcend their specific diagnostic labels. In accessing care, these children are almost invariably accompanied by caregivers (usually mothers) who may also have mental health problems, notably depression. The relationship between child and maternal psychopathology has however not been sufficiently researched especially in low and middle income countries.
Mothers (n = 100) of children receiving care at the Child and Adolescent Clinic of a Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Abeokuta, Nigeria took part in the study. To each consenting mother was administered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Patient Health Questionnaire, while information regarding their children (n = 100) was obtained using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Data analysis was done with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.
The mean ages of the mothers and children were 40.4 years (SD 4.7) and 11.6 years (SD 4.1), respectively. Among the children, 63 % had a main diagnosis of seizure disorder. Regardless of main diagnosis, 40 % of all the children had a comorbid diagnosis. Among the mothers, 23 % had major depressive disorder. A quarter (25 %) of the children had abnormal total SDQ scores. A diagnosis of major depressive disorder in mothers was associated with poor total SDQ scores and poor scores in all SDQ domains except the emotional domain for the children. Major depressive disorder among the mothers was associated with not being married (p = 0.004; OR = 0.142, 95 % CI 0.037-0.546) and longer duration of the child's illness (p = 0.039, OR = 1.165, 95 % CI 1.007-1.346).
The study showed notable rates of depressive illness among mothers of children with neuropsychiatric disorders. Marked rates of emotional and behavioral disorders were also found among the children. Associations were found between maternal and child psychopathology. Mothers of children with neuropsychiatric disorders should be screened for depressive illness.
患有已确诊的、可诊断的精神和神经疾病的儿童还容易出现超越其特定诊断标签的情绪和行为问题。在接受治疗时，这些儿童几乎总是由照顾者（通常是母亲）陪同，而这些照顾者自身可能也有心理健康问题，尤其是抑郁症。然而，儿童与母亲心理病理学之间的关系尚未得到充分研究，特别是在低收入和中等收入国家。
在尼日利亚阿贝奥库塔一家神经精神病医院的儿童和青少年诊所接受治疗的儿童的母亲（n = 100）参与了该研究。向每位同意参与的母亲发放了一份社会人口统计学调查问卷和患者健康问卷，同时使用优势与困难问卷获取有关她们孩子（n = 100）的信息。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）16版进行数据分析。
母亲和孩子的平均年龄分别为40.4岁（标准差4.7）和11.6岁（标准差4.1）。在这些儿童中，63%的主要诊断为癫痫症。无论主要诊断如何，所有儿童中有40%有共病诊断。在母亲中，23%患有重度抑郁症。四分之一（25%）的儿童优势与困难问卷总得分异常。母亲患有重度抑郁症与儿童优势与困难问卷总得分低以及除情感领域外所有领域得分低有关。母亲中的重度抑郁症与未婚（p = 0.004；比值比=0.142，95%置信区间0.037 - 0.546）以及孩子疾病持续时间较长（p = 0.039，比值比=1.165，95%置信区间1.007 - 1.346）有关。
该研究表明神经精神疾病患儿的母亲中抑郁症患病率较高。在儿童中也发现了明显的情绪和行为障碍发生率。发现了母亲和儿童心理病理学之间的关联。对神经精神疾病患儿的母亲应进行抑郁症筛查。
