The Symptoms Of Child Depression In The School Context

Also, the behaviors that come from the symptoms of depression depend on age. Even though the characteristics of depression are the same between children and adults "(i.e., persistent depressed affect, tiredness, negative cognitions, trouble concentrating or inattention, feelings of worthlessness or guilt)", each characteristic depends on age and "will be expressed through age-appropriate behaviors” (Nardi 48). Since the symptoms are shown through behaviors based on age, each symptom can be addressed in a child’s schooling. The symptom of having a depressed affect and negative cognitions correlates to schoolwork because depression slows down the brain processes causing a student’s learning capabilities to decrease (Nardi 48). Once this happens,

One study done on this was called "Child Depression in the School Context," and this study states that “the hypothesis postulating that higher levels of depressive symptomatology in children will be associated with greater school maladjustment, poorer academic performance and lower self-esteem was confirmed” (Bernanas 204). This means that students suffering from depression have a harder time adjusting to school, have worse grades, and have a lower self-esteem compared to students who do not have depression. Adjusting to school may be hard for the average student, but when depression is added into the stressors of life, this adjustment may be even harder to go through. Moreover, low self-esteem is already a large issue in schools and adding depression in can make school much harder on a student. Furthermore, some of the behaviors that come from depression leads to a decrease in academic performance. Some of these behaviors include, “a marked change in attitude; somatic problems such as colds, stomachaches, and fatigue; and trouble at home” (Nardi 48). When a child has a change in attitude, he or she may become defiant towards the teachers and/or other students (Nardi 48). This affects schooling because the calm classroom atmosphere may be disrupted and the class may not be able to continue as normal. The change in attitude may be different if the student becomes more shy or quiet, then school may become

The development of depression depends on gender, but “although not all studies of depressed youth have revealed gender differences, research suggests that at some point in early-to-middle adolescence, the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms increases significantly for both sexes, but that girls begin to manifest significantly higher rates of depressive symptoms” (Chiccetti and Toth 224). This means that as a child, male students tend to have higher depressive symptoms, but when moving into the adolescent years, females tend to have higher symptoms. Similarly, another study about depression in the school setting showed that boys tend to have a higher level than girls of depression, but when the children become adolescence, girls show higher levels. (Bernanas 204). This further means that when in elementary and part of middle school, males tend to show the symptoms of depression and is affected more in school. At the beginning of seventh grade and throughout high school, females tend to start showing higher symptoms. The effects that come from this are that each symptom that comes from depression is shown more prevalently in different stages of the student's life depending on the individual's gender. Overall, the timing of depression matters because “the school performance variables had similar associations with depression among both sexes when a wide range of depression was studied