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Authors: Diva Eensoo (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia, EUSPR member), Hedvig Sultson (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia, EUSPR member), Eike Siilbek (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia, EUSPR member), Jaana Rahno (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia, EUSPR member), Kaia Laidra (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia, EUSPR member), Carolina Murd (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia, EUSPR member), Merle Havik (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia, EUSPR member), Iiris Tuvi (University of Tartu), Kenn Konstabel (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia, EUSPR member)
Background: Mental health is influenced by many factors, including health related behavior, social relationships, emotional regulation skills, perceived stress, and predisposition to mental health disorders. The aim of this study is to develop a model for the depression subscale of the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-25) and assess how well model predicts depression depending on the severity of the mental health issue.
Methods: Participants in the Study of Estonian Children's Mental Health from grades 4 to 11 (n = 499, mean age = 14.1 ± 2.2) completed the RCADS-25, Youth Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17), Kidscreen-52, and answered questions about physical activity, use of addictive substances, sleep duration, self-harm, perceived stress, and emotion regulation difficulties. For logistic regression analyses, dependent variable was categorized into high and low scores based on the median and 75th percentile values.
Results: In the model (cut off point by median value), subjects who were older, spoke a minority language at home, exercised less frequently, slept less on school days, had poorer relationships at school (Kidscreen-52), had less free time (Kidscreen-52), higher levels of perceived stress, had higher PSC-17 externalizing subscale and RCADS-25 anxiety scores, and engaged in self-harm more frequently were more likely to have higher RCADS-25 depression scores. The model explained 75% of the variance in the depression scale (AIC = 282.72). In the depression model with the cut off point by 75th percentile value, age, home language, physical activity, Kidscreen-52 Free Time, and PSC-17 externalizing problems became insignificant predictors. This model explained 72% of the variance in the depression scale (AIC = 228.91).
Discussion: The tested model is well suited to describe RCADS-25 depression. Depending on the severity of the mental health issue, different risk factors may play a significant role and should be considered in preventive efforts.
| Conflict of interest | no |
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