ABSTRACT
A sample of 355 children with intellectual disability (ID) attending special schools in Cape Town, South Africa, were assessed on the Developmental Behavioural Checklist--Teacher Version (DBC-T). A prevalence rate of 31% for psychopathology was found. Boys manifested more behaviour problems than girls, especially in relation to disruptive, self-absorbed and antisocial behaviours. Children with severe and profound levels of ID showed more behavioural difficulties than those in the mild and moderate categories. Specific behaviour problems were self-absorbed and autistic behaviours in children with profound ID, communication problems and anxiety in those with severe ID and antisocial behaviour in children with mild ID. Epilepsy, but not cerebral palsy was associated with higher total behaviour scores. Ambulant children were more disruptive and antisocial, while non-ambulant children were more anxious. Non-verbal children had higher scores on all of the subscales except for disruptive behaviour.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior , Education of Intellectually Disabled/trends , Mental Disorders/psychology , Persons with Mental Disabilities/psychology , Adolescent , Affective Symptoms , Child , Child Behavior Disorders/psychology , Diagnosis, Differential , Education of Intellectually Disabled/methods , Epilepsy , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/epidemiology , Prevalence , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Schools , Severity of Illness Index , Sex Distribution , South Africa/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Postnatal depression (PND) has been underreported in South Africa. This retrospective study investigated factors which appear to predispose women to PND. Two groups, one consisting of women who suffered from PND and the other of women free of this complaint, provided information on a number of biological, psychological and social factors. In line with current opinion it was found that no single causative factor could be isolated but that a variety of factors may contribute to the problem. Among the factors which distinguished the two groups were the mothers' emotional health during pregnancy, complications after birth, marital relations, relationship with their own mothers, social support and preparation for motherhood. An alarming finding was that a large proportion of the PND sufferers had not known of the disorder's existence before their own diagnosis.
