Internalizing Problems in Children and Adolescents With Math Disability

2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Graefen ◽  
Juliane Kohn ◽  
Anne Wyschkon ◽  
Günter Esser

Research has shown that learning disabilities are associated with internalizing problems in (pre)adolescents. In order to examine this relationship for math disability (MD), math achievement and internalizing problem scores were measured in a representative group of 1,436 (pre)adolescents. MD was defined by a discrepancy between math achievement and IQ. Internalizing problems were measured through a multi-informant (parents, teachers, self-report) approach. The results revealed that MD puts (pre)adolescents at a higher risk for internalizing problems. External and self-ratings differed between boys and girls, indicating that either they show distinct internalizing symptoms or they are being perceived differently by parents and teachers. Results emphasize the importance of both a multi-informant approach and the consideration of gender differences when measuring internalizing symptomatology of children with MD. For an optimal treatment of MD, depressive and anxious symptoms need to be considered.

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 1339-1345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gudlaug Marion Mitchison ◽  
Urdur Njardvik

Objective: Studies on comorbidity in children diagnosed with ADHD have relied more on parent/teacher reports instead of self-reported data and have focused on the frequency of comorbid symptoms instead of scores above clinical cutoffs. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), anxiety, and depression in children with ADHD, using self-report measures for internalizing symptoms and parent-reported measures for externalizing symptoms for increased accuracy. Gender differences were also assessed. Method: Parents of 197 children diagnosed with ADHD answered the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale, and 112 of the children filled out the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children and the Children’s Depression Inventory. Results: Results revealed that 19.28% of the children met cut-off criteria for ODD, 41.96% for anxiety, and 21.43% for depression. Conclusion: Our findings indicate a relatively lower prevalence of ODD and a slightly higher prevalence of anxiety symptoms than previously reported. Possible explanations and future directions are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marit Løtveit Pedersen ◽  
Solveig Holen ◽  
Stian Lydersen ◽  
Kristin Martinsen ◽  
Simon-Peter Neumer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Symptoms of anxiety and depression are common mental health problems in children and are often referred to as internalizing symptoms. Youth with such symptoms are at greater risk for poor academic achievement, school non-completion, and future mental health problems, all of which, lead to public health consequences and costs to society. The aim of the current study was to investigate associations between young school children’s internalizing symptoms and school functioning, as assessed separately by the teachers and the children. Methods This study is a cross-sectional study including children (N = 750. 58% girls) from the ages of 8–12 years with elevated levels of self-reported symptoms of anxiety (MASC-C) and/or depression (SMFQ). Teachers reported the academic achievement, school adaptation (TRF) and internalizing symptoms (BPM-T) of the children. Associations were analyzed using linear regression analyses. Results Both teacher-reported internalizing symptoms and children’s self-reported depressive symptoms were associated with poor academic achievement and school adaptation, while self-reported symptoms of anxiety were not. Symptoms of depression as assessed by the children were associated with teacher-rated internalizing symptoms, while self-reported symptoms of anxiety were not. Conclusion We found negative associations between school functioning and internalizing symptoms, as assessed by both the teachers and the children. The dual findings strengthen the validity of these relationships. Thus, prevention of depressive and anxiety symptoms in children may lead to positive changes in school domains such as academic achievement and school adaptation. The weak and non-significant associations between teacher-rated internalizing problems and children`s self-report on depression- and anxiety symptoms respectively, indicate that teachers may have difficulties recognizing children with these symptoms. Trial registration Clinical Trials NCT02340637, Registered on June 12, 2014, Retrospectively registered.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742110314
Author(s):  
Laura Orlando ◽  
Katarina A Savel ◽  
Sheri Madigan ◽  
Marlena Colasanto ◽  
Daphne J Korczak

Context: Studies of child and adolescent internalizing symptoms and dietary pattern have produced mixed results. Objectives: To quantify the association between dietary patterns and internalizing symptoms, including depression, in children and adolescents. Data sources: Embase, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science and Cochrane up to March 2021. Study selection: Observational studies and randomized controlled trials with mean age ⩽ 18 years, reporting associations between diet patterns and internalizing symptoms. Data extraction: Mean effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals were determined under a random-effects model. Results: Twenty-six studies were cross-sectional, 12 were prospective, and 1 used a case-control design. The total number of participants enrolled ranged from 73,726 to 116,546. Healthy dietary patterns were negatively associated with internalizing ( r = –0.07, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [–0.12, 0.06]) and depressive symptoms ( r = –0.10, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [–0.18, –0.08]). Effect sizes were larger for studies of healthy dietary patterns and internalizing and depressive symptoms using self-report versus parent-report measures, as well as in cross-sectional studies of healthy dietary patterns and depression compared to prospective studies. Unhealthy dietary patterns were positively associated with internalizing ( r = 0.09, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [0.06, 0.14]) and depressive symptoms ( r = 0.10, p < 0.01, 95% CI [0.05, 0.17]). Larger effect sizes were observed for studies of unhealthy dietary patterns and internalizing and depressive symptoms using self-report versus parent-report measures. Limitations: A lack of studies including clinical samples and/or physician diagnosis, and a paucity of studies in which anxiety symptoms were the primary mental health outcome. Conclusion: Greater depression and internalizing symptoms are associated with greater unhealthy dietary patterns and with lower healthy dietary intake among children and adolescents.


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 845-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. van der Jagt-Jelsma ◽  
M.R. de Vries-Schot ◽  
Rint de Jong ◽  
C.A. Hartman ◽  
F.C. Verhulst ◽  
...  

AbstractBackground:This study investigated the association between the religiosity of parents and pre-adolescents, and pre-adolescents’ psychiatric problems.Method:In a clinic-referred cohort of 543 pre-adolescents at least once referred to a mental health outpatient clinic mental health problems were assessed using self-reports (Youth Self-Report; YSR), parent reports (Child Behavior Checklist; CBCL), and teacher reports (Teacher's Report Form; TRF) of child behavioral and emotional problems. Paternal, maternal, and pre-adolescent religiosity were assessed by self-report. MANCOVAs were performed for internalizing and externalizing problems as dependent variables, with maternal religiosity, paternal religiosity, pre-adolescent religiosity, parental religious harmony, and gender as independent variables, and socioeconomic status and divorce as covariates.Results:Internalizing problems. Pre-adolescents of actively religious mothers had more internalizing symptoms than pre-adolescents of nonreligious mothers. Harmony and gender did not significantly affect the association between maternal religiosity and internalizing problems. Externalizing problems. No associations between religiosity of pre-adolescents, religiosity of mothers, religiosity of fathers and/or harmony of parents and externalizing problem behavior have been found.Discussion and conclusions:Overall, associations between mental health and religiosity were modest to absent. Results are discussed in the context of a clinic-referred cohort, the quest phase of internalizing religious beliefs and role modeling of parents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Lewien ◽  
Jon Genuneit ◽  
Christof Meigen ◽  
Wieland Kiess ◽  
Tanja Poulain

Abstract Background As sleep-related difficulties are a growing public health concern, it is important to gain an overview of the specific difficulty areas of the most vulnerable individuals: children. The current descriptive study presents the prevalence of sleep-related difficulties in two large samples of healthy children and adolescents and outlines the effects of age, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) on various sleep-related difficulties. Methods Participants were 855 4–9 year-old children (child sample) and 1,047 10–17 year-old adolescents (adolescent sample) participating 2011–2015 in the LIFE Child study, a population-based cohort study in Germany. Parents of the child participants completed the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), whereas adolescents self-administered the Sleep Self Report (SSR). Familial SES was determined by a composite score considering parental education, occupational status, and income. Multiple regression analyses were carried out to address the research question. Results Among 4−9 year-old children, the mean bedtime was reported to be 8 p.m., the mean wake-up time 7 a.m., and sleep duration decreased by 14 min/year of age. 22.6 % of the children and 20.0 % of the adolescents showed problematic amounts of sleep-related difficulties. In the child sample, bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep-related anxiety, night waking, and parasomnia were more frequent in younger than older children. In the adolescent sample, difficulties at bedtime were more frequent among the younger adolescents, whereas daytime sleepiness was more prominent in the older than the younger adolescents. Considering gender differences, sleep-related difficulties were more frequent among boys in the child sample and among girls in the adolescent sample. Lower SES was associated with increased sleep-related difficulties in the adolescent, but not the child sample. Conclusions The present results report sleep-related difficulties throughout both childhood and adolescence. Gender differences can already be observed in early childhood, while effects of SES emerge only later in adolescence. The awareness for this circumstance is of great importance for pediatric clinicians who ought to early identify sleep-related difficulties in particularly vulnerable individuals.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tíscar Rodríguez-Jiménez ◽  
Antonio Godoy ◽  
José A. Piqueras ◽  
Aurora Gavino ◽  
Agustín E. Martínez-González ◽  
...  

Abstract. Evidence-based assessment is necessary as a first step for developing psychopathological studies and assessing the effectiveness of empirically validated treatments. There are several measures of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or symptomatology in children and adolescents, but all of them present some limitations. The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) by Foa and her colleagues has showed to be a good self-report measure to capture the dimensionality of OCD in adults and adolescents. The child version of the OCI (OCI-CV) was validated for clinical children and adolescents in 2010, showing excellent psychometric properties. The objective of this study was to examine the factor structure and invariance of the OCI-CV in the general population. Results showed a six-factor structure with one second-order factor, good consistency values, and invariance across region, age, and sex. The OCI-CV is an excellent inventory for assessing the dimensions of OCD symptomatology in general populations of children and adolescents. The invariance across sex and age warrants its utilization for research purposes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Eschenbeck ◽  
Uwe Heim-Dreger ◽  
Denise Kerkhoff ◽  
Carl-Walter Kohlmann ◽  
Arnold Lohaus ◽  
...  

Abstract. The coping scales from the Stress and Coping Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (SSKJ 3–8; Lohaus, Eschenbeck, Kohlmann, & Klein-Heßling, 2018 ) are subscales of a theoretically based and empirically validated self-report instrument for assessing, originally in the German language, the five strategies of seeking social support, problem solving, avoidant coping, palliative emotion regulation, and anger-related emotion regulation. The present study examined factorial structure, measurement invariance, and internal consistency across five different language versions: English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. The original German version was compared to each language version separately. Participants were 5,271 children and adolescents recruited from primary and secondary schools from Germany ( n = 3,177), France ( n = 329), Russia ( n = 378), the Dominican Republic ( n = 243), Ukraine ( n = 437), and several English-speaking countries such as Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, and the USA (English-speaking sample: n = 707). For the five different language versions of the SSKJ 3–8 coping questionnaire, confirmatory factor analyses showed configural as well as metric and partial scalar invariance (French) or partial metric invariance (English, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian). Internal consistency coefficients of the coping scales were also acceptable to good. Significance of the results was discussed with special emphasis on cross-cultural research on individual differences in coping.


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