Stress Symptoms and Stress-Related Coping in Depressed Children

Background: It has been proposed that stress occurrence and stress coping strategies play an important role in the aetiology and maintenance of depression in children. The present study provides data on stress-related correlates of childhood depression. Methods: A community sample of 99 children with a mean age of 11.4 years was studied. 20 of them were classified as depressed. Stress symptoms and stress coping were measured by a standardised and validated German questionnaire for children. Results: The data show significantly higher values in depressed children for somatic symptoms of stress (p<.02) and for subjective feelings of being stressed (p<.001). Coping behaviours in the depressed children were maladaptive (p<.01), with a focus on destructive emotion regulation (p<.02), which particularly occurred in depressed boys (p<.02). Conclusion: The results confirm and extend former empirical data and recommend the specific usefulness of stressrelated elements in treatment and prevention programmes for depression in children (German J Psychiatry 2010; 13 (2): 74-78).