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DEPRESSION AMONG PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN 1

DEPRESSION AMONG PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN 6

Factors That Are Associated with Depression among Pre-School Children in Memphis, Tennessee

Research Methods in Public Health PBHE550

Shamar Bowen

American Public University System

October, 4 2021

Factors That Are Associated with Depression among Pre-School Children in Memphis, Tennessee

Part 1

Research Question(s)

The current qualitative research study will be guided by the following two research questions:

1. What are the main causes of depressive symptoms among pre-school children in Memphis?

2. What effects do depressive symptoms have on the performance and general health of the pre-school children in the area?

Research Objectives

Studies have reputed early assumptions that pre-school children are developmentally immature to experience depressive symptoms. The study aims to add its voice to the various studies that have shown pre-school children may suffer from depression. The focus of the study is to ascertain the factors that are associated with depression among pre-school children in Memphis, Tennessee. Below are the objectives of the study;

1. To explore the underlying factors that causes depression among pre-school children. To ascertain the main causes of depression among pre-school children in Memphis, Tennessee. To identify the impact of depressive symptoms on the performance of pre-school children in Memphis, Tennessee. To evaluate the impact of the depressive symptoms on the general health of the pre-school children in the area.

2. To assess the impact of the underlying factors that causes depression among pre-school children.

3. To propose recommendations to Memphis, Tennessee on the impact of pre-school depression.

Hypothesis

The main causes of depressive symptoms among pre-school children in Memphis is stressful life events and family history of depressant.

Depressive symptoms have a physiological effect on the performance and general health of pre school children, which affect their performance

Null Hypothesis

Stressful life events and family history of depressant is not a factor of depressive symptoms among pre-school children in Memphis

Depressive symptoms have no physiological effect on the performance and general health of preschool children, which affect their performance

Study design

Case studies will be used in the qualitative research. Case studies are an in-depth examination of a group of people. In this case the group of people is the pre-school children in Memphis. It will be used to examine the factors that are associated with depression among pre-school children in Memphis, Tennessee. It will also be used to examine the impact of the symptoms of depression in pre-school children on performance and health of the children.

Qualitative interviews will be used to gain more information about depression in pre-school children in the area. The interviews will semi-structured based on the topic and will be effective in determining the factors that are associated with depression among pre-school children in Memphis, Tennessee.

For this research, Qualitative interviews will be used to gain more information about depression in pre-school children in the area. The interviews will semi-structured based on the topic and will be effective in determining the factors that are associated with depression among pre-school children in Memphis, Tennessee. I will be looking into the 4 common disorders that affect preschool children which are Separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, generalized anxiety and specific phobia. This is help me get a better understanding of the behavioral factors that affect preschool aged children. Also, I will use Case studies, which will be in-depth examination of a group of people. In this case the group of people is the pre-school children in Memphis.

Data will be collected by using case studies. There are a few case studies which has research screening on preschooler with depression or anxiety disorders which was recorded from primary care and day care sites and screened with the Preschool Feelings Checklist (PFC), a validated measure assessing depressive symptoms in preschool-age children. Children with depressive symptoms were selected for study participation, and children with other psychiatric disorders and healthy children were included in the sample as comparison groups.

Part 2: Literature Review

Dougherty, L. R., Smith, V. C., Bufferd, S. J., Stringaris, A., Leibenluft, E., Carlson, G. A., & Klein, D. N. (2013). Preschool irritability: longitudinal associations with psychiatric disorders at age 6 and parental psychopathology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 52(12), 1304–1313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.09.007

Dougherty et al., (2013) examined the association of chronic irritability with psychiatric disorders at the ages 3 and 6. The authors also tried to determine whether chronic irritability at age 3 predicts DSM-I disorders. In the study, the authors assessed four hundred and sixty two preschool children between the ages of three and six. They used a diagnostic interview tool the Preschool age Psychiatric Assessment. The findings of the study were able to link chronic irritability with various psychiatric disorders and functional impairment at the age three and six. The study was able to determine that irritability is associated with parental depression and anxiety. The study was able to recommend for early interventions on preschool children with chronic irritability.

Gaffrey, M. S., Luby, J. L., Belden, A. C., Hirshberg, J. S., Volsch, J., & Barch, D. M. (2011). Association between depression severity and amygdala reactivity during sad face viewing in depressed preschoolers: an fMRI study. Journal of affective disorders, 129(1-3), 364–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2010.08.031

Gaffrey and his team wanted to examine the brain functioning of depressed preschoolers. This would also determine whether symptoms severity during viewing of facial expression of emotion is related to depression. The study used fourteen preschoolers between the ages of two and six. The preschoolers had PO-MDD. The study was to show the relationship between early childhood depression and brain activity in the amygdala and other regions that are responsible for face processing. The findings showed that depressed preschoolers displayed a positive relationship between severity and amygdala activity when viewing the facial expressions of negative effect. The main limitation of the study was that the sample size was too small which would lead to increasing the margin of error.

Luby, J., Belden, A., Sullivan, J., Hayen, R., McCadney, A., & Spitznagel, E. (2009). Shame and guilt in preschool depression: evidence for elevations in self-conscious emotions in depression as early as age 3. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 50(9), 1156–1166. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02077.x

Luby, Belden, Sullivan, Hayen, McCadney and Spitznagel conducted a study to understand the emotional characteristics of preschool depression. The study was based on the hypothesis that preschool depression would be linked to higher levels of shame and maladaptive guilt. The study used 305 preschoolers as participants to the study. The guilt experience and reparation behaviors were measured using the parent report. The results if the study showed that depression severity was related to the child’s more frequent expressions of guilt feelings and less frequent attempts of guilt reparation.

References