title: [Parental beliefs and child-rearing attitudes and mental health problems among schoolchildren].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify the prevalence and identify the risk factors related to mental health problems among schoolchildren and its possible association with the beliefs and educational attitudes of parents/caretakers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study with a stratified probabilistic sample (n=454) of first to third-graders from public and private schools in Southeastern Brazil. Standardized instruments were administered to parents/caretakers by trained interviewers, including screening questionnaires for mental health problems among children and parents/caretakers; a questionnaire on beliefs and attitudes; and a questionnaire for socio-economic status. Chi-square tests and logistic regression models were used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found 35.2% prevalence of clinical/borderline cases among students. Parents/caretakers that believed in corporal punishment as a child-rearing method used physical aggression towards their children more frequently (64.8%). Logistic regression models showed that the act of hitting the child with a belt was associated to conduct problems and to overall mental health problems among schoolchildren in the presence of other risk factors: child gender (male), parents/caretakers with mental health problems, and adverse socioeconomic conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high prevalence of mental health problems among schoolchildren and its association with child-rearing methods and mental health problems among parents/caretakers indicate the need for psycho-educational interventions aimed to reduce physical abuse and mental health problems in childhood.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psiquiatria, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ymara Lúcia Camargo
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Vitolo
authors.forename: Bacy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fleitlich-Bilyk
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Isabel Altenfelder Santos
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Bordin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors