Abstract
Depressed and nondepressed children were found to differ in the types of behavior problems manifested at home and at school. Children rated as depressed by their parents on the Personality Inventory for Children evidenced significantly more conduct problems, anxiety, impulsive hyperactivity, learning problems, psychosomatic problems, perfectionism, and muscular tension at home than children rated as nondepressed. Depressed children were rated by their teachers as displaying more inattentionpassivity than nondepressed children. A significant but modest relationship was found between parent report and child selfreport of the child's depression. Depressed children attributed positive events to external causes and negative events to internal causes significantly more than did nondepressed children. The specificity of these results to depression was also examined;the particular features of childhood depression are compared to the features of adult depression.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., & Teasdale, J. D. Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1978,87, 49–74.
Auger, T. Differences in child symptom ratings among teachers and parents of emotionally disturbed children.Psychological Reports, 1975,36, 867–873.
Beck, A. T.Depression: Clinical, experimental and theoretical aspects. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.
Beck, A. T. Measuring depression: The depression inventory. In T. A. Williams, M. M. Katz, & J. A. Shields (Eds.),Recent advances in the psychobiology of the depressive illnesses. Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1972.
Blotcky, M. J., & Kimsey, L. R. Childhood depression.Texas Medicine, 1970,66, 64–69.
Connell, H. M. Depression in childhood.Child Psychiatry in Human Development, 1972,4, 71–85.
Conners, C. K. Rating scales for use in drug studies with children.Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 1973, 24–31.
Cytryn, L., & McKnew, D. H. Proposed classification of childhood depression.American Journal of Psychiatry, 1972,129, 149–155.
DeHorn, B., Lachar, D., & Gdowski, C. L. Profile classification strategies for the Personality Inventory for Children.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1979,47, 874–881.
Foulds, G. A. Temperamental differences in maze performance. Part II. The effect of distraction and of electroconvulsive therapy on psychomotor retardation.British Journal of Psychology, 1934,2, 201–208.
Frommer, E. Depressive illness in children.British Journal of Psychiatry, 1968,2, 117–123.
Gittelman-Klein, R. Definitional and methodological issues concerning depressive illness in children. In J. G. Shulterbrandt & A. Raskin (Eds.),Depression in children: Diagnosis, treatment, and conceptual models. New York: Raven Press, 1977. Pp. 69–80.
Glaser, K. Masked depression in children and adolescents.Annual Progress in Child Psychiatry and Child Deviance, 1968,1, 345–355.
Glidewell, J. C., & Swallow, C. S.The prevalence of maladjustment in elementary schools. Report reprinted for the Joint Commission on Mental Health of Children. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1968.
Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.A proposed classification of psychopathological disorders in children. New York: Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, 1966.
Klein, D. C., Fencil-Morse, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. Depression, learned helplessness, and the attribution of failure.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976,33, 508–516.
Kovacs, M., & Beck, A. T. An empirical clinical approach towards a definition of childhood depression. In J. G. Shulterbrandt & A. Raskin (Eds.),Depression in children: Diagnosis, treatment, and conceptual models. New York: Raven Press, 1977. Pp. 1–25.
Kupier, N. A. Depression and causal attributions for success and failure.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1978,36, 236–246.
Lachar, D., & Gdowski, C. L. Problem behavior factor correlates of the Personality Inventory for Children profile scales.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1979,47, 39–48.
Lapouse, R. The epidemiology of behavior disorders in children.American Journal of Diseases of Children, 1966,111, 594–599.
Lefkowitz, M. M., & Burton, N. Childhood depression: A critique of the concept.Psychological Bulletin, 1978,85, 716–726.
Ling, W., Oftedal, G., & Weinberg, W. Depressive illness in childhood presenting as a severe headache.American Journal of Diseases of Children, 1970,120, 122–124.
Malmquist, C. P. Childhood depression: A clinical and behavioral perspective. In J. G. Schulterbrandt & A. Raskin (Eds.),Depression in children: Diagnosis, treatment, and conceptual models. New York: Raven Press, 1977. Pp. 33–59.
Miller, W., & Seligman, M. E. P. Depression and learned helplessness in man.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1975,84, 228–238.
Murray, P. A. The clinical picture of depression in school children.Journal of the IR Medical Association, 1970,63, 53–56.
Rie, H. E. Depression in childhood.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1966,5, 653–685.
Rizley, R. Depression and distortion in the attribution of causality.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1978,87, 32–48.
Seligman, M. E. P., Abramson, L. Y., Semmel, A., & Von Baeyer, C. Depressive attributional style.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1979,88, 242–247.
Toolan, J. M. Depression in children and adolescents.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1962,32, 404–414.
Walker, R. N. Some temperament traits in children as viewed by their peers, their teachers and themselves.Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1967,32 (6,Serial No. 114).
Weinberg, W. A., Rutman, J., Sullivan, L., Penick, E. C., & Dietz, S. G. Depression in children referred to an educational diagnostic center: Diagnosis and treatment.Journal of Pediatrics, 1973,83, 1065–1072.
Werry, J. S., & Quay, H. C. The prevalence of behavior symptoms in younger elementary school children.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1971,41, 136–143.
Wiggins, J. S., & Winder, C. L. The Peer Nomination Inventory: An empirically derived sociometric measure of adjustment in preadolescent boys.Psychological Reports, 1961,9 (Monograph Suppl. 5V9), 643–677.
Wirt, R. D., Lachar, D., Klinedienst, J., &,Seat, P. D.Multidimensional description of child personality: A manual for the Personality Inventory for Children. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services, 1977.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The investigators would like to thank Jim McFerren and Ralph Zalazar for their work as research assistants and David Watson for his help with the statistical analyses. The helpful comments of Eric Klinger and Auke Tellegen are gratefully acknowledged. The cooperation of Dr. Loren Benson, director of personnel services of the Hopkins School District #274; Mr. Edward Ryshavy, principal of Glen Lake Elementary School; and the teachers of that school is greatly appreciated.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leon, G.R., Kendall, P.C. & Garber, J. Depression in children: Parent, teacher, and child perspectives. J Abnorm Child Psychol 8, 221–235 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00919066
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00919066