title: Perceptions of self, mother and family and behavior of prepubertal depressed children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize the perceptions of self, mother and family of prepubertal children and to determine if the perceptions of children with depression and their behavior towards their mothers are different from children with anxiety disorders and nonpsychiatric controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children (aged 7-13 years) with major depressive disorder (n=30), anxiety disorders (n=37) and nonpsychiatric controls (n=32) underwent structured psychiatric evaluations and completed questionnaires on their perceptions of themselves and their relations with their mothers and families. The child-mother dyad was observed during structured interactions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Self-perceptions of depressed children were significantly more negative than those of children with anxiety and controls. Depression severity negatively correlated with the child's self-perception and positively correlated with perceptions of the mother as being more rejecting, controlling, less accepting and less allowing autonomy, and of the family as being less cohesive. Depression severity was also positively associated with the child's hostile attitude towards the mother during the interactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings of greater negative perceptions of self, mother and family in depressed children compared to children with anxiety disorders and nonpsychiatric children suggest that approaches specifically addressing negative perceptions and targeting familial relationships could be especially effective for treating young children with depression.
authors: The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqwa, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: agothelf@gmail.com.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Brand-Gothelf
authors: The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqwa, Israel; Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Science Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Yoeli-Bligh
authors: Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Science Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Gilboa-Schechtman
authors: The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqwa, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Benaroya-Milshtein
authors: The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqwa, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Apter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009341:Negativism; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012938:Social Perception
keywords: Anxiety; Children; Depression; Family; Perception; Self-esteem