In a multidimensional study of 81 preadolescent children -- ages 8 to 12 -- from lower- to upper-middle-class socioeconomic backgrounds, psychologists found that the children's negative beliefs about mothers and peers translated into both rejection and depression.

Children who were identified as non-depressed were more likely than depressed children to describe their family and peers in a positive way and to expect that other people would be more supportive.

"It looked like the amount to which children's beliefs about their mothers predicted rejection and depression actually was accounted for by their beliefs about their peers". "Negative beliefs about the mother-child relationship might lead to negative beliefs about peer relationships, which then lead to rejection by the peer group."

Interpersonal relationships and their link with depression have emerged as a new area of research in the last 20 years. In a study at the University of California -- teachers were asked to rate how rejected the children were in their peer groups. Children were interviewed about a series of hypothetical interactions involving mothers and peers, and then asked to describe their expectations or to recall the encounters. They also completed a questionnaire that measured how depressed they had been feeling in recent weeks.

Depressed kids actually remembered essentially equal amounts of positive and negative attributes about the mothers in some of the scenarios. The big difference was that "non-depressed kids tended to remember more positive attributes about the mother; they tended to have a more optimistic bias."

"Many of the treatments for depressed children focus on kids' belief systems". "They tend to assume that these kids believe negative things that are not accurate. That may partly be true, but some of these negative beliefs may reflect real problems that they are having in their lives. The children may actually be more rejected by their peers and may experience more stress in their family."

It may be time to also consider what depressed children believe about other people, and to understand what their actual interpersonal experiences are like. The focus on correcting self-esteem may not be enough to address interpersonal difficulties, such as a lack of social skills. It also may be helpful to have families involved in treatment.

More Young Canadians have access to disease-fighting vaccines
TORONTO - More children in Canada now have access to important disease-preventing vaccines than ever before as a result of nationwide efforts to enhance immunization programs in Canada. With the introduction of new immunization programs across Canada, an additional 450,000 children each year can obtain publicly funded vaccines for protection against serious infections such as meningitis, blood infections, pneumonia, ear infections, chicken pox and whooping cough. The vaccines have been introduced by the provinces and territories following funding by the Government of Canada to improve the availability of vaccines. [read on]

The Human Nature Daily Review

Canadian Quotes of The Day ... and more [on the lighter side]

Children of Alcoholics: Are They Different? An estimated 6.6 million children under the age of 18 years live in households with at least one alcoholic parent. [read on]

Sexuality Education for Parents ~ TALK TO ME! ~ "Talk To Me" is a sexuality education program designed to help parents to talk to their children about sexuality. It has been developed with emphasis on teenage perspectives. It was initially developed by the Cape Breton Wellness Centre and the University College of Cape Breton, in collaboration with parents and funded by Health Canada. "Talk To Me" was then adapted into French and revised to address the recommendations of parents who had participated in a pilot project. [read on]

Edition No. 23
Insight EFAP International