Sleep disturbance has been recognized as an important factor influencing mental health problems in preschool children. However, no longitudinal studies have investigated the association between sleep ...change patterns and mental health in preschoolers or the mediating role of resilience. Here, data were collected from 1595 preschool children in 26 kindergartens in four counties in Anhui Province, China, who were followed up (T2) 1 year apart based on baseline surveys (T1). The primary caregivers of the children were asked to complete a structured questionnaire through face-to-face interviews or by completing it themselves. Pearson's correlation and linear regression were used to analyze the relationships among sleep patterns, mental health, and resilience in preschoolers. A structural equation model was used for the mediation analysis. Four patterns of sleep change were identified: persistent-low pattern (1.7%), decreasing pattern (9.8%), increasing pattern (7.3%), and persistent-high pattern (81.3%). Compared to the persistent-low pattern, the increasing pattern and persistent-high pattern were associated with emotional behavioral problems (EBPs) and anxiety. Resilience played a fully mediating role in the relationship between increasing pattern, persistent-high pattern, and EBPs. Resilience partially mediated the effects of increasing and persistent-high pattern on anxiety. More attention should be paid to sleep problems in children with increasing and persistent-high sleep patterns. Resilience is important for understanding the mechanism underlying the correlation between sleep patterns, EBPs, and anxiety. Considering the EBPs and anxiety of preschool children, early intervention for resilience should be considered.
Background/Objective:
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire self-report (SDQ-S) has been extensively used to assess mental health problems among children and adolescents. However, previous ...research has identified substantial age and country variation on its psychometric properties. The aim of this study was three-fold: i) to evaluate internal structure and measurement invariance of the Spanish version of the SDQ; ii) to analyze age and gender-specific effects on the SDQ subscales; and iii) to provide Spanish normative data for the entire age range of adolescence.
Method:
Data were derived from two representative samples of adolescents aged 14 to 19 years old, selected by stratified random cluster sampling years (
N
= 3378).
Results:
The reliability of the Total difficulties score was satisfactory, but some subscales showed lower levels of internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original five-factor model. Finally, results revealed that SDQ scores were influenced by the gender and the age of participants; thus, the normative banding scores and cut-off values were provided accordingly.
Conclusions:
This study validates the Spanish SDQ-S for the entire age range of adolescence. However, more cross-country and cross-age research is needed to better understand the inconsistent findings on SDQ reliability.
Background/Objective: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire self-report (SDQ-S) has been extensively used to assess mental health problems among children and adolescents. However, previous ...research has identified substantial age and country variation on its psychometric properties. The aim of this study was three-fold: i) to evaluate internal structure and measurement invariance of the Spanish version of the SDQ; ii) to analyze age and gender-specific effects on the SDQ subscales; and iii) to provide Spanish normative data for the entire age range of adolescence. Method: Data were derived from two representative samples of adolescents aged 14 to 19 years old, selected by stratified random cluster sampling years (N = 3378). Results: The reliability of the Total difficulties score was satisfactory, but some subscales showed lower levels of internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original five-factor model. Finally, results revealed that SDQ scores were influenced by the gender and the age of participants; thus, the normative banding scores and cut-off values were provided accordingly. Conclusions: This study validates the Spanish SDQ-S for the entire age range of adolescence. However, more cross-country and cross-age research is needed to better understand the inconsistent findings on SDQ reliability.
The current study examined the mediating effects of emotional/behavioral problems and academic competence between parental abuse/neglect and a child’s school adjustment by investigating 2070 student ...surveys from the Korean Child Youth Panel Study (KCYPS). A path analysis yielded the following key findings. Firstly, childhood abuse and neglect showed a significant negative and direct effect on school adjustment. It is particularly important to note that the effect of neglect was bigger than that of abuse in this study. Secondly, emotional/behavioral problems were found to partially mediate between abuse/neglect and school adjustment. Thirdly, academic competence partially mediated the effect of neglect on school adjustment, while it did not mediate the effect of abuse on school adjustment. The indirect effect of parental neglect via emotional/behavioral problems and academic competence was stronger than that of parental abuse. The influence of parental abuse and neglect on children’s school adjustments was discussed in terms of emotional/behavioral problems and academic competence considering unique Korean cultural context.
During the first 3 years of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, we investigated the long-term trends of emotional/behavioral problems and poor help-seeking behavior in adolescents and ...examined the sociodemographic inequalities in these trends.
A multiwave cross-sectional survey was conducted in Japan from October–November 2020, June–July 2021, and June–July 2022 using an anonymous questionnaire. Trends of emotional/behavioral problems (e.g., emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/inattention, and total difficulties) and poor help-seeking were tested using a chi-squared test with Bonferroni correction. The effects of sociodemographic factors (grade, gender, country of origin, and number of parents) on emotional/behavioral problems and poor help-seeking were examined by two mixed-effect logistic regression models: (1) with fixed effects for years and sociodemographic factors and (2) stratified by years if the interaction terms between years and each sociodemographic factor were significant.
The prevalence of total difficulties and emotional symptoms was the highest in 2021. The number of adolescents reporting hyperactivity/inattention and poor help-seeking increased between 2020 and 2021 and remained high in 2022. Inequalities in emotional/behavioral problems and poor help-seeking behavior were found with respect to all sociodemographic factors.
Despite the persistent emotional/behavioral problems, the results suggested that the number of adolescents who were unable to seek help increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, heterogeneities in the trends with respect to grade, gender, country of origin, and number of parents were detected. Prioritized supports targeting those with sociodemographic disadvantages may be needed to mitigate these inequalities in response to the pandemic.
Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of parent – child cognitive behavioral therapy on emotional behavioral problems of grief children. Methodology: This research was an ...experimental study, with pretest - posttest – follow up design with control group. The statistical population included 7 to 11 years old girls without father and covered by the Relief Committee of Sari City and had emotional behavioral problems. The sample consisted of 16 girls, 7 to 11 years old, fatherless covered by Relief Committee that were selected purposefully and were equal in the two groups of intervention and control. The Child Behavior Checklist questionnaire was completed by their mothers before and after the intervention and one month follow-up. Parent-child cognitive-behavioral therapy was performed for the intervention group in the form of 8 sessions of 45 minutes weekly. The first to sixth sessions were for children and the seventh and eighth sessions were for their mothers. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance test. Results: Implementing parent-child cognitive-behavioral therapy led to a reduction in anxiety, depression, physical complaints, social problems, attention and thinking, law-breaking behaviors, and aggression in children in the intervention group. In addition, significant differences were observed between the two groups in the variables of anxiety, aggression, social problems and attention. Conclusion: The use of parent – child cognitive-behavioral therapy, which simultaneously considers the surviving parent and the child in treatment process, can be effective in reducing emotional behavioral problems in children after parental loss.
Although there is evidence that maternal perinatal mental disorders are associated with emotional/behavioral problems in children, the long-term impacts of postnatal bonding disorder remain unclear. ...We aimed to examine the associations between maternal postnatal bonding disorder and emotional/behavioral problems in preschool children.
We analyzed data from 7220 mother–child pairs who participated in the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study. Maternal bonding disorder was defined as Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale score ≥5 at 1 month after delivery. The Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½–5 was used to assess emotional/behavioral problems, and its subscales were used to assess internalizing and externalizing problems in children at 4 years of age. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations of postnatal bonding disorder with emotional/behavioral, internalizing, and externalizing problems after adjustment for age, education, income, parity, prenatal psychological distress, postnatal depressive symptoms, child's sex, preterm birth, and birth defects.
The prevalence of postnatal bonding disorder was 14.8 %. Postnatal bonding disorder was associated with an increased risk of emotional/behavioral problems in children: the odds ratio (OR) was 2.06 (95 % confidence interval CI, 1.72–2.46). Postnatal bonding disorder was also associated with increased risks of internalizing problems and externalizing problems in children: the ORs were 1.69 (95 % CI, 1.42–2.02) and 1.90 (95 % CI, 1.59–2.26), respectively.
Bonding and problems were self-reported.
Bonding disorder at 1 month after delivery was associated with an increased risk of emotional/behavioral problems in children at 4 years of age.
•Bonding disorder was associated with emotional/behavioral problems in children.•Lack of affection was associated with emotional/behavioral problems in children.•Anger and rejection were associated with emotional/behavioral problems in children.•These associations were found for both internalizing and externalizing problems.
Sleep disturbances in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exist worldwide, but little is known about this issue in non-Western cultures. This study aimed to characterize sleep disturbances ...in Chinese children with ASD and to examine associated sociodemographic factors and emotional/behavioral problems. Parents of 60 Chinese children with ASD (aged 6–17 years) from Shenzhen, China completed the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Sleep disturbances were severe and common, with rates of 70.0 % for overall disturbances and 15.0 % (daytime sleepiness) to 40.0 % (sleep duration) for specific domains. The severity and rate of sleep disturbances were higher compared to previous studies in typically developing children from the same region of China and American children with ASD, respectively. Further, there were significant correlations between most CSHQ and SDQ domains. Female gender, older parental age, higher hyperactivity, and poorer prosocial behavior were associated with increased overall sleep disturbances.
There are few studies on late-adopted adolescents' outcomes -e.g., emotional-behavioral problems, attachment and cognitive status- and their possible predictive factors, none from Italy. Objective: ...This paper aimed to investigate emotional-behavioral problems, attachment representations, and verbal skills in late-adopted adolescents in Italy and to explore the predictive role of pre-adoption adversities and adoption variables for worse adoptees' outcomes.
The study included N = 79 late-adopted (mean age at adoption = 6 years) adolescents, between 11 and 18 years, placed via both intercountry and domestic adoption.
Parents provided information about pre-adoption and adoption history and filled the Children's Behavior Checklist 6–18 for measuring participants' emotional-behavioral problems. Attachment representations were assessed through the Friend and Family Interview administered directly to adolescents, like the verbal comprehension index of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (4th edition) for measuring participants' verbal IQ.
Maltreatment and its interaction with multiple placements were the main predictors of other problems—i.e., social, thought, and identity difficulties (respectively, p = .007 and p = .029)—while intercountry adoption was the unique predictor of both externalizing and total problems (respectively, p = .047 and p = .015). However, domestic adoption was the most important predictor both for higher insecurity and disorganized attachment representations and lower verbal skills (all p < .044); even stronger if domestic adoption interacted with pre-adoptive institutionalization.
Pre-adoption adversities as well as domestic vs. intercountry adoption, but not the age at placement, contributed to adolescent adoptees' developmental outcomes.
Parental psychosocial factors are associated with emotional/behavioral problems in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but studies investigating their relationships are limited.
To explore ...the relationships between parents’ perceived social support, parental resilience, parenting self-efficacy, and emotional/behavioral problems in children with ASD, and the mechanism underlying these relationships.
The participants were 289 parents of children with ASD (including fathers and mothers) in China. A survey comprising the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Resilience Scale, Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was administered.
(1) Parents’ perceived social support, parental resilience, and parenting self-efficacy were significantly associated with emotional/behavioral problems in children with ASD; (2) parental resilience and parenting self-efficacy were found to play a chain-mediating role in the association between perceived social support of parents and emotional/behavioral problems in children with ASD.
It is crucial to improve parents’ perceived social support, parental resilience, and parenting self-efficacy to reduce emotional/behavioral problems in children with ASD.
