Maternal recognition of child mental health problems in two Brazilian cities

Vida sem escola e saúde mental dos estudantes de escolas públicas na pandemia de Covid-19

RESUMO O presente estudo analisa os efeitos da pandemia de Covid-19 sobre a saúde mental dos estudantes durante parte do período de suspensão das aulas presenciais. Trata-se de estudo transversal, aplicado entre outubro e dezembro de 2020, baseado em questionário on-line de autorrelato respondido por estudantes entre 13 e 20 anos, do 9º ano do Ensino Fundamental e do Ensino Médio, que acompanhavam as atividades escolares remotas em 21 escolas públicas estaduais e municipais, localizadas nas periferias dos municípios de São Paulo e Guarulhos. Para a análise dos dados, utilizaram-se dois modelos de regressão linear múltipla, tendo como variáveis dependentes os escores de depressão pelo Inventário de Depressão Infantil e de ansiedade pelo Scared (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders). O tempo de exposição às telas, a inversão do sono e o sexo feminino, combinados com as dificuldades do ensino remoto e outros marcadores sociais (como cor/raça e casos de Covid-19 em casa), estão associados a sintomas de depressão e ansiedade durante a primeira onda da Covid-19 na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, reforçando a importância da rotina escolar na vida desses jovens e os desafios colocados às escolas para a promoção da saúde mental dos estudantes no período pós-pandemia.

Schoolless life and mental health of public-school students in the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ mental health during part of the suspension of in-person classes. The study is a cross-sectional survey carried out from October2020 to December 2020. An online self-report questionnaire was answered by thirteen- to twenty-year old students, from the 9th grade (Middle School) to high school, who followed remote school activities in 21 state and municipal public schools located in peripheral areas of the cities of São Paulo and Guarulhos. Two linear regression models were used in the analysis, considering as dependent variables the depression scores as provided by the Child Depression Inventory and anxiety by the SCARED (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders). The time of exposure to the screens, the inversion of sleep periods and the female gender, along with the difficulties of remote education and other social markers (such as color/race and cases of COVID-19 at home) are associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety during the first wave of the COVID-19 in the Metropolitan area of São Paulo. The findings reinforce the importance of school routine in the lives of those young people and the challenges posed to schools to promote students’ mental health in the post-pandemic reality.

The Child Mental Health Treatment Gap in an Urban Low-Income Setting: Multisectoral Service Use and Correlates

OBJECTIVE

To efficiently target capacity-building efforts for child mental health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), it is critical to define how care is structured across sectors and individual-level factors.

METHODS

In a community-based sample of 1,408 children and adolescents (ages 6-15 years) from Itaboraí, Brazil, the authors assessed need and service use across four care systems (mental health specialty, health, welfare, and informal). Individual-level factors included child gender and age, maternal perception of child mental health need, paternal absence, maternal education, and maternal anxiety and depression.

RESULTS

The mental health treatment gap was 88%, with only 12% of children with psychiatric problems using mental health services. Children with mental health problems were more likely than those without these problems to use health and other sectors of care and to use services in more than one sector of care. Overall, 46% of the children with any clinical mental health problems and 31% of those with only internalizing problems were identified by their mothers as having a mental health need. Among those with clinical mental health problems, factors associated with mental health service use were being a boy and paternal absence but not mental health problem type or maternal awareness.

CONCLUSIONS

Closing the child mental health treatment gap in urban settings in LMICs where resources are scarce will likely require system-level changes, such as engagement of diverse service sectors of care. Interventions need to target increased maternal awareness about mental health problems and encourage provision of mental health services to girls.

An epidemiological study of childhood development in an urban setting in Brazil

Objective:

Mental illness is an important public health concern, often starting early in life and particularly impacting children from low-and middle-income countries. Our aims were to 1) determine, in a representative sample of public preschool 4- to 5-year old children in Brazil, the prevalence of internalizing and externalizing disorders and socioemotional development delays; and 2) to identify modifiable risk factors associated with mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders (MBDD), such as microsystem (i.e., parent-child relationship), mesosystem (social support), and macrosystem contextual factors (neighborhood disadvantage).

Methods:

A random sample of public preschool children was recruited in the city of Embu das Artes (São Paulo metropolitan area) (n=1,292 from 30 public preschools). Six-month prevalence of MBDD was measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE).

Results:

Six-month prevalence estimates were 25.4% for internalizing disorders, 12.1% for externalizing disorders, and 30.3% for socioemotional development delays. MBDD prevalence estimates were higher in families with stressful relationships and parental depression or anxiety, and in families with lower social capital.

Conclusion:

At least 25% of preschool children living in an urban area in Brazil presented a mental health disorder. These mental disorder were associated with modifiable factors such as stressful family relationships and lower social capital. Prevention and intervention measures such as family therapy are needed to decrease such high prevalence.

Prevalence and risk factors of psychiatric disorders in early adolescence: 2004 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort

PURPOSE

The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in early adolescence, to examine the distribution of psychiatric disorders by maternal and child characteristics and to evaluate the occurrence of psychiatric comorbidities.

METHODS

This was a prospective cohort study of all live births in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, in 2004 (n = 4231). A total of 3562 subjects were evaluated at 11 years of age. Psychiatric disorders were assessed using the Development and Well-Being Assessment. Crude and adjusted logistic regression was used to investigate risk factors for any psychiatric disorder.

RESULTS

According to DSM-5 criteria, the overall prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 13.2% (n = 471), 15.6% among the boys and 10.7% among the girls. The most common disorders were anxiety disorders (4.3%), any attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (4.0%) and any conduct/oppositional disorder (2.8%). Low maternal education, smoking during pregnancy, the presence of moods symptoms during pregnancy or maternal chronic and severe depressive symptoms in the first years of the adolescent´s life, male gender, 5-min Apgar score < 7 at birth and preterm birth were associated with higher odds of any psychiatric disorder at age 11. Psychiatric comorbidities were observed in 107 subjects (22.7%), of whom 73, 24, and 10 had two, three, and four psychiatric diagnoses, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results underscore the importance of psychiatric disorders as a prevalent condition in early adolescence, which has a direct impact on the planning of public policies and specific mental health care services in this age group.