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School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren

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 t...

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Autores principales: Pedersen, Marit Løtveit, Holen, Solveig, Lydersen, Stian, Martinsen, Kristin, Neumer, Simon-Peter, Adolfsen, Frode, Sund, Anne Mari
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6929288/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31870462
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0365-1
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author Pedersen, Marit Løtveit
Holen, Solveig
Lydersen, Stian
Martinsen, Kristin
Neumer, Simon-Peter
Adolfsen, Frode
Sund, Anne Mari
author_facet Pedersen, Marit Løtveit
Holen, Solveig
Lydersen, Stian
Martinsen, Kristin
Neumer, Simon-Peter
Adolfsen, Frode
Sund, Anne Mari
author_sort Pedersen, Marit Løtveit
collection PubMed
description 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. We also identified a negative association between teacher-rated internalizing symptoms and children’s self-report of depressive symptoms, indicating that teachers may have difficulties recognizing children with these symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials NCT02340637, Registered on June 12, 2014, Retrospectively registered.
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spelling pubmed-69292882019-12-30 School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren Pedersen, Marit Løtveit Holen, Solveig Lydersen, Stian Martinsen, Kristin Neumer, Simon-Peter Adolfsen, Frode Sund, Anne Mari BMC Psychol Research Article 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. We also identified a negative association between teacher-rated internalizing symptoms and children’s self-report of depressive symptoms, indicating that teachers may have difficulties recognizing children with these symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials NCT02340637, Registered on June 12, 2014, Retrospectively registered. BioMed Central 2019-12-23 /pmc/articles/PMC6929288/ /pubmed/31870462 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0365-1 Text en © The Author(s). 2019 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Pedersen, Marit Løtveit
Holen, Solveig
Lydersen, Stian
Martinsen, Kristin
Neumer, Simon-Peter
Adolfsen, Frode
Sund, Anne Mari
School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren
title School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren
title_full School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren
title_fullStr School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren
title_full_unstemmed School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren
title_short School functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren
title_sort school functioning and internalizing problems in young schoolchildren
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6929288/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31870462
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0365-1
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