Multi-informant reports of mental health in Swedish-born children of immigrants and children born to non-immigrants - the SESBiC-study.

BACKGROUND: The European literature on mental health of the children of immigrants is limited. Therefore this study aims to investigate gender-specific mental health reported by teachers, parents and the children themselves in 12-year old children of immigrants and non-immigrants and also to study the level of agreement between the different informants. METHODS: This cross-sectional study is a part of the longitudinal South East Sweden Birth Cohort-study (the SESBiC-study) on children's health. All children born in town in the south of Sweden 1995-1996 were invited to take part. The mothers of 1723 children (88%) consented. In this part 87 Swedish-born 12-year old children of immigrants and 687 12-year old children of non-immigrants were investigated regarding gender-specific differences in mental health as reported by teachers (Teacher-report form), parents (Child behavior checklist), and children (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) and the agreement reached between the informants. RESULTS: Parental immigrant status was not associated with mental health in any of the groups, but living arrangements and parental educational level were mainly found to have an effect on the health status of boys (TRF-Internalizing ß = .77 95% CI = .02-1.52; TRF-Externalizing.ß = 2.31 95% CI = .63-3.99; TRF-Total ß = 6.22 95% CI = 2.27-10.18) The agreement between different informants was generally low, except for externalizing problems among boys (Boys of immigrant parents: Parent and teacher correlation ρ = .422 and Child teacher correlation ρ = .524, p-value < .05, respectively). The correlation between teachers and parents were lower in the index group compared to the reference group. In the index group, the correlations between teacher's and children's assessments were fairly high for boys but not for girls (ρ Total = .400, ρ Internalizing = .240 and ρ Externalizing = .524, p-value < .05 for Total and Externalizing). CONCLUSION: This study confirms previous findings that the mental health of children of immigrants is similar to that of children of non-immigrants. We found that family factors have a greater impact on the reported mental health than immigrant status does. This might be of clinical importance for healthcare workers to recognize when investigating and treating children from other cultures.

Symptoms of depression postpartum and 12 years later-associations to child mental health at 12 years of age.

Children of depressed mothers have been shown to express behaviour problems to a greater extent than children of non-depressed mothers. The purpose of this study was to examine the persistence of depressive symptoms in mothers and to evaluate the relative importance of symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) and concurrent maternal symptoms of depression, on child behaviour at age 12. A birth cohort of 1,707 children and their mothers was followed from 3 months after birth to 12 years after birth. Self-reported symptoms of depression in mothers were assessed at baseline and 12-year follow-up where 893 mothers (52.3 %) and their children participated. The mothers' reports on the behaviour of their children at age 12 were used. Multivariate analysis was used to assess factors that increased the risk of child behaviour problems. At baseline, 10.4 % scored above the cutoff for symptoms of postpartum depression. At follow up, 18.2 % scored above the cutoff for depressive symptoms. Multivariate analysis showed that ongoing maternal symptoms of depression, as distinct from PPD-symptoms, was the strongest predictor of child behaviour problems at age 12. The gender of the child and socio-demographic factors at baseline were additional factors that affected the risk of behaviour problems in the 12 year old children. Children of mothers who reported symptoms of depression, both postpartum and at follow-up, were at a greater risk of behaviour problems compared to children of women with no depressive symptoms on either occasion. Our findings indicate that recurrent and ongoing maternal depressive symptoms significantly increase the risk of child behaviour problems as reported by mothers, while symptoms of PPD do not seem to result in an increased risk of behaviour problems in 12 year olds. High maternal socio-demographic life stress at childbirth constitutes an important risk factor for later child behaviour problems.

Self-reported mental health in 12-year-old second-generation immigrant children in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Today 29.3% of all newborns in Sweden are second-generation immigrants. Studies on mental health among these children are few, inconclusive and vary widely with regard to the informant used and the age of the immigrant. The majority of previous studies focus on study groups that cover a wide age span but since mental health varies considerably during the preadolescent and adolescent years, more age-specific studies are needed. Additional focus on the health and well-being of these children is necessary if a well-functioning society is to develop. AIM: To investigate whether and how second-generation immigrant children in Sweden differ from non-immigrant children in their presentation of self-reported mental health at the age of 12. METHODS: Second-generation immigrant children (n = 142) from a birth cohort in southern Sweden, subjects of the SESBiC-study (the South East Sweden Birth Cohort-study) were compared with non-immigrant children (n = 1036) from the same cohort in their presentation of self-reported mental health at the age of 12 using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Gender, family structure and parents' educational level were controlled for. RESULTS: Second-generation immigrant children did not differ from the non-immigrant children in their own presentation of mental health at the age of 12 in any of the categories of immigrant groups. CONCLUSION: It is a promising sign for future integration that second-generation immigrant children's self-reported mental health at the age of 12 was quite similar to that of non-immigrant children.

Effect of gene, environment and maternal depressive symptoms on pre-adolescence behavior problems - a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a common and disabling condition with a high relapse frequency. Maternal mental health problems and experience of traumatic life events are known to increase the risk of behavior problems in children. Recently, genetic factors, in particular gene-by-environment interaction models, have been implicated to explain depressive etiology. However, results are inconclusive. METHODS: Study participants were members of the SESBiC-study. A total of 889 mothers and their children were followed during the child's age of 3 months to 12 years. Information on maternal depressive symptoms was gathered postpartum and at a 12 year follow-up. Mothers reported on child behavior and traumatic life events experienced by the child at age 12. Saliva samples were obtained from children for analysis of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis showed a significant association between maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety, and internalizing problems in 12-year-old children (OR 5.72, 95% CI 3.30-9.91). Furthermore, carriers of two short alleles (s/s) of the 5-HTTLPR showed a more than 4-fold increased risk of internalizing problems at age 12 compared to l/l carriers (OR 4.73, 95% CI 2.14-10.48). No gene-by-environment interaction was found and neither depressive symptoms postpartum or traumatic experiences during childhood stayed significant in the final model. CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety are significant risk factors for behavior problems in children, which need to be taken into account in clinical practice. Furthermore, we found a main effect of 5-HTTLPR on internalizing symptoms in 12-year-old children, a finding that needs to be confirmed in future studies.