A Study of Behavior in Children of Patients Suffering from Depression in Comparison to Normal Controls.

ABSTRACT

Only few data are available on prevalence of behavioural problems in children of parents with depression in India. Early detection and early intervention in children of patients with depression are yet to gain ground in India. The present study aimed to study the behavioural characteristics in children of patients suffering from depression and compare the above parameters with an age and sex matched control. A case control study was conducted on children aged 4-16 years of patients with depression who presented to indoor and outdoor services of department of psychiatry in Lady Hardinge Medical College evaluating them on behaviour checklist and comparing the outcome with children of healthy parents matched for age, sex, education, and socioeconomic status with the cases.The subjects in the test group showed greater scores (24.36 ± 6.353) on Child Behavior Checklist than control groups (6.48 ± 1.446) and the difference was found to be statistically significant (p< 0.05). Difference was also found to be statistically significant when male subjects and female subjects of the two groups were compared separately and on comparing by taking three arbitrary age groups i.e. 4-8 years, 9-12 years and 13-16 years.The study showed that children of patients suffering from depression had greater mean scores on Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) implying more behavioral difficulties as compared to the children of nondepressed parents.