Detailed contribution information
| Contribution title | 3292 - Low mood in a sample of Finnish child psychiatric outpatients |
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| Contribution code | PS03-60 (P) |
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| Form of presentation | Poster |
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| Abstract |
Objectives: To examine the prevalence of low mood, how it associates with disruptive behaviour, and how it affects the clinician-rated global functioning of the child in a sample of 6-12-year-old child psychiatric outpatients. Methods: The study population consisted of 862 patients aged 5 to 12 attending child psychiatric outpatient clinic at Helsinki University Hospital in 2013-2015. The parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used as a measure for the symptoms. The SDQ subscores were categorized as “normal”, “borderline” or “abnormal” and the “somewhat true” and “certainly true” categories of the emotional items were collapsed into one category. The item no 13 of the SDQ (“often unhappy downhearted or tearful”) was used as a measure for mood. The diagnoses were set according to ICD-10 by a clinician after an initial evaluation period. The Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) was used as a measure for overall functioning of the patients. The associations between emotional symptoms and conduct problem/hyperactivity scores were examined with ordinal regression in univariate and multivariate models controlling for age and gender. Independent samples T-test was used to compare the CGAS values between patient groups. Results: In our sample 512 children (59.4%) showed low mood. In univariate ordinal regression analysis low mood, worrying and somatic complaints were associated with conduct problems. The strongest association was found between mood and conduct problems (OR 2.03, 95% CI: 1.55-2.66). In multivariate analysis, low mood remained as the only associate with conduct problems (OR 1.93, 95% CI: 1.39-2.67). No association was found between emotional symptoms and hyperactivity. The general functioning rated with CGAS was lower in children with parent reported low mood (52.21) compared to children with normal mood (54.62, p < 0.001). The same was true in the subgroup of patients with no depression diagnosis (54.85 vs. 52.82, p 0.001). When examining the effect of mood to general functioning in children with abnormal hyperactivity or conduct problems scores in the SDQ, no additional effect was found. Conclusion: In a child psychiatric outpatient sample over half present with low mood. Low mood associates with conduct problems. Low mood has a negative effect on overall functioning even in the absence of a clinical depression. It is important to recognize low mood in child psychiatric patients as this may guide the treatment choices. |