title: Emotional and behavioural difficulties in children of parents with multiple sclerosis: a controlled study in Greece.
abstract: Emotional and behavioural problems were investigated in children who have a parent with multiple sclerosis (MS), in relation to factors such as family dysfunction, parental depression and illness-related characteristics. The participants were 56 MS patients, their spouses and one randomly selected child aged 4-17 years, and a comparison group of 64 children and both their parents, none of whom reported somatic illness. Emotional and behavioural problems in the children were identified by reporting of both parents and self-report using the Achenbach's Child Behaviour Checklist and Youth Self Report respectively. Parental depression and family dysfunction were explored using the Beck Depression Inventory and Family Assessment Device, respectively. The data were analysed using independent samples t-tests for between-group comparisons, Pearson r correlations between children's problems and family dysfunction or parental depression, and multiple regression analyses for identifying predictors for children's problems. Children whose parents, especially mothers, had MS presented greater emotional and behavioural problems than comparison children. Children's problems were positively associated with maternal depression and family dysfunction. Family dysfunction predicted children's overall and externalizing problems, while the severity of impairment of the ill mother predicted children's internalizing problems. Implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit Dept. of Psychiatry, Medical School University of Athens, Athens, Greece. itsianti@cc.uoa.gr
authors.forename: Stavroula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Diareme
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsiantis
authors.forename: Gerasimos
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kolaitis
authors.forename: Spyros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferentinos
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tsalamanios
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paliokosta
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anasontzi
authors.forename: Eirini
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lympinaki
authors.forename: Dimitris C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Anagnostopoulos
authors.forename: Costas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Voumvourakis
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Romer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires