Evaluation of the depressive symptomatology and the related varia-bles in the school context

Abstract

The goal of this study was to analyze the rate of child depressive symptomatology in the school context through the analysis of the clinical and school variables related to such symptomatology, with a view to obtaining a predictive model of depression that could help in the detection and understanding of this pathology. The sample was made up of 1104 children aged 8 to 12 from schools in the Basque Country. Participants filled out the Children’s Depression Scale (CDS) and the S-2 self-report from the Behavior Assessment System for Children and Adolescents (BASC). Homeroom teachers provided information on each pupil’s academic performance. The results indicated an interaction between pupils’ sex and age, and this would support the developmental perspective on depressive disorder. In boys, depressive symptomatology levels fell with age, but in girls there was a slight rise at age 12. The most noteworthy predictors of child depression were social stress, anxiety, sense of inadequacy and low self-esteem, which would be in support of the emotional, social and cognitive dimensions of depressive symptomatology.