Abstract
Objective:
The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the psychiatric problems of the toddlers and maternal and/or paternal depression, as well as the effect of gender on this association.
Method:
In a period of eleven months, all consecutive referrals to a child psychiatry out-patient clinic between 14-43 (30.81 ± 8.11) months of age were included (n=108) (males 72.2%, females 27.7%). In addition to comprehensive clinical assessment of children and structured clinical interview with parents, for toddlers Child Behavior Checklist 2/3 and for parents Beck Depression Inventory were given.
Results:
The severity of maternal depression was significantly correlated with the severity of internalizing (p=0.004), externalizing (p = 0.003) and total (p=0.002) problems of their daughters. The severity of paternal depression was found to be significantly correlated with the severity of externalizing (p = 0.05) problems of their sons. After exclusion of the pervasive developmental disorders, CBCL scores of girls were only found to be significantly higher when the mother was depressive and/or had higher stress index scores.
Discussion:
Results of the present study suggested that psychiatric problems in early childhood were significantly associated with depression of the parent of the same gender. In addition, in early childhood, girls appeared to be more vulnerable to social stresors in terms of the development of psychiatric complaints.
Keywords: Early childhood, psychopathology, depression, parents
