Parental beliefs and child-rearing attitudes and mental health problems among schoolchildren
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102005000500004Keywords:
Mental health^i2^sstatistics & numerical d, Child rearing, Child abuse, Health knowledge^i2^sattitudes & pract, Child psychiatry, Cross-sectional studies, Risk factors, Logistic models, PrevalenceAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To verify the prevalence and identify the risk factors related to mental health problems among schoolchildren and its possible association with the beliefs and educational attitudes of parents/caretakers. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with a stratified probabilistic sample (n=454) of first to third-graders from public and private schools in Southeastern Brazil. Standardized instruments were administered to parents/caretakers by trained interviewers, including screening questionnaires for mental health problems among children and parents/caretakers; a questionnaire on beliefs and attitudes; and a questionnaire for socio-economic status. Chi-square tests and logistic regression models were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: We found 35.2% prevalence of clinical/borderline cases among students. Parents/caretakers that believed in corporal punishment as a child-rearing method used physical aggression towards their children more frequently (64.8%). Logistic regression models showed that the act of hitting the child with a belt was associated to conduct problems and to overall mental health problems among schoolchildren in the presence of other risk factors: child gender (male), parents/caretakers with mental health problems, and adverse socioeconomic conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of mental health problems among schoolchildren and its association with child-rearing methods and mental health problems among parents/caretakers indicate the need for psycho-educational interventions aimed to reduce physical abuse and mental health problems in childhood.Downloads
Published
2005-10-01
Issue
Section
Original Articles
How to Cite
Vitolo, Y. L. C., Fleitlich-Bilyk, B., Goodman, R., & Bordin, I. A. S. (2005). Parental beliefs and child-rearing attitudes and mental health problems among schoolchildren . Revista De Saúde Pública, 39(5), 716-724. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102005000500004