MONTREAL, Sep 2, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Canadian researchers and
international colleagues say depression and anxiety affect up to 15 percent of
preschoolers.
The study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, found
children with high depression and anxiety were more likely to have mothers with
a history of depression.
Researchers from the University of Laval in Quebec City, University of Montreal
and McGill University, both in Montreal, Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, University College Dublin and the Institut national de la sante et
de la recherche medicale in Paris, annually evaluated a representative sample of
1,758 preschoolers born in Quebec. Mothers provided information on the children
in extensive interviews.
As early as age 1, there are indications that some children are at higher risk
of developing high levels of depression and anxiety, first author Sylvana M.
Cote of the University de Montreal said in a statement.
"Difficult temperament at 5 months was the most important predictor of
depression and anxiety in the children," Cote said in a statement.
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