Depresivnost in anksioznost pri otrocih: Kako starši in otroci ocenjujejo resnost simptomov ter potrebnost iskanja pomoči

Cesar, Anja (author), Puklek Levpušček, Melita (mentor)

V Sloveniji in po svetu prihaja do razlike med odstotkom ljudi, ki poročajo o doživljanju simptomov depresivnosti in anksioznosti, ter odstotkom ljudi, ki zaradi tega poišče pomoč. Ta razlika je še posebej zaskrbljujoča, ko govorimo o otrocih, saj potrebujejo pomoč staršev ali drugih odraslih oseb, da prepoznajo simptome duševne motnje in za njih poiščejo ustrezno pomoč. V magistrskem delu sem se osredotočila na zaznave staršev in otrok o najpogostejših simptomih depresivnosti in anksioznosti ter na njihovo ocenjevanje potrebnosti za iskanje različnih vrst pomoči. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 84 otrok starih od 10 do 13 let in 75 staršev starih od 31 do 54 let. Izpolnili so vprašalnik, ki je vseboval pet fiktivnih primerov opisa 11-letnega otroka, ki izraža simptome depresivnosti in anksioznosti. Primeri so se med seboj razlikovali glede na kontekst, v katerem so se simptomi izražali (družina, medvrstniški odnosi, šola, otrokovo poročanje o doživljanju, kontrolni primer). Za preverjanje, ali ima spol otroka, ki doživlja simptome, vlogo pri zaznavi resnosti simptomov, je polovica udeležencev prejela primere z opisom deklic, polovica pa primere z opisom dečkov. Udeleženci so za vsak primer poročali, kako običajno in zaskrbljujoče se jim zdi vedenje otroka, ki je bil opisan v primeru, ter ali in kje bi iskali pomoč zanj. Poleg tega so udeleženci izpolnili vprašalnik WHO-5 kazalec blaginje, s pomočjo katerega sem želela preveriti, ali se bodo zaznave resnosti primerov razlikovale med udeleženci z višjim in nižjim psihološkim blagostanjem. Rezultati kažejo, da so bili starši in otroci v veliki meri skladni pri ocenjevanju resnosti simptomov, izrazile pa so se določene razlike pri vrstah simptomov, ki jih zaznavajo kot bolj zaskrbljujoče. Udeleženci so poročali o visoki stopnji pripravljenosti za iskanje pomoči za vse opisane primere (z izjemo kontrolnega), pri čemer se je izrazila pomembna vloga ožje družine, prijateljev ter učiteljev.

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: anksioznost, depresivnost, otroci, starši, simptomi, iskanje pomoči
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2019
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-110912
• Publication date in RUL: 20.09.2019

Secondary language

• Language: English
• Title: Depression and anxiety in children: Parents’ and children’s perception of symptom severity and help-seeking necessity

Abstract

In Slovenia and worldwide there is a discrepancy between the percentage of people who report experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety and those who seek help for them. The discrepancy is particularly problematic when it comes to children, as they need help of parents or other adults to recognize the mental disorder symptoms and seek appropriate care. The aim of this thesis is to explore parental and children's perception of the most common symptoms of depression and anxiety and their evaluation of help-seeking necessity. The participants were 84 children aged 10 to 13 and 75 parents aged 31 to 54. They filled out a questionnaire with five vignettes describing an eleven-year-old child who has been experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety. The cases differed according to the context in which the symptoms appeared: family, peer relationships, school, child’s reporting on his experience, and control case. In order to determine whether the child’s gender has any effect on how his symptoms were perceived, half of the participants received descriptions of girls and the other half of boys. For every case the participants had to determine how problematic they found the child’s behaviour, as well as whether they would seek help for him. They also filled out the WHO-5 Well-Being questionnaire to check whether participants’ psychological well-being would be related to their perception of symptoms' severity. The results showed that parents and children similarly evaluated the severity of the symptoms, however, there were differences in the types of symptoms they considered more alarming. The participants exhibited a high level of willingness to seek help in all given cases (except for control case), where close family members, friends and teachers were discovered to play a significant role.

• Keywords: anxiety, depression, children, parents, symptoms, help seeking behaviour