School children’s mental health and maternal depression with and without comorbidity of borderline personality disorder

Abstract

The impact of the severity of maternal depression (MD) comorbid with other disorders on children’s mental health is seldom studied. Hence, the objective was to compare schoolchildren’s mental health indicators addressing groups differentiated by MD severity with and without comorbidity of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Ninety mother-child pairs were assigned to three groups and were systematically assessed: Depression Group (DG) – mothers with indicators of current symptoms of depression and a history of previous episodes, without BPD indicators; Depression comorbid with BPD(DG-BPD) – mothers with current depressive symptoms and a history of previous episodes in comorbidity with BPD indicators; and Comparison Group (CG) – mothers with no history of depressive symptoms nor BPD indicators. The children of both sexes were between six and 10. The assessments were performed in individual sessions: a) with mothers – General Questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire, BPD Clinical Interview, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); and b) with children – Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices Test. Data were treated using statistical procedures (p ≤0.05). Children from the DG-BPD presented statistically higher means than the DG and CG on the total problem score, conduct, hyperactivity, and relationship problems. An association was found between the severity of MD and BPD and more frequent child mental health problems, characterizing a preferential clinical group for mental health interventions.