Parental psychological symptoms and familial risk factors of children and adolescents who exhibit school refusal.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the levels of psychological symptoms in the parents of children with school refusal and determine the familial risk factors in its development.


METHODS
This study was performed on 55 pairs of parents who had children exhibiting school refusal and were compared with a control group. A socio-demographic data form, the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Symptom Checklist-90 revised were applied to these parents.


RESULTS
Parents of the school refusal group had higher anxiety and depression scores than the controls. Among the risk factors for school refusal, physical punishment by the parents, a history of organic disease in the parents or children, and a history of psychiatric disorders in the parents or other relatives were found to be significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Depending on genetic and environmental factors, parents with psychiatric disorders appeared to be associated with development of psychiatric disorders in their children. Moreover, psychiatric disorders in parents negatively affected the treatment of their children and adolescents who exhibited school refusal. It is therefore vital to treat psychiatric disorders of parents with the children having psychiatric disorders, and thus increase parent participation in their children's therapeutic process.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bakirkoy Research and Training Hospital for Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders, Istanbul, Turkey. mkbahali@yahoo.com
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Bahali
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Tahiroglu
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Avci
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Seydaoglu
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D019468:Disease Management; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011599:Psychopathology / Q000379:methods; D011678:Punishment; D045808:Refusal to Participate / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors