@article{ref1,
title="Somatic and depressive symptoms among children from Latin America and the English-speaking Caribbean",
journal="Clinical child psychology and psychiatry",
year="2023",
author="Gibson, Roger C. and Lowe, Gillian and Lipps, Garth and Jules, Mia A. and Romero-Acosta, Kelly and Daley, Avril",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The extent to which depression is associated with somatic complaints in children from the English-speaking Caribbean and Latin America is not well established. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: We sought to explore the association between depressive and somatic symptoms among children from the English-speaking Caribbean and Latin America, while accounting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, cultural background, and anxiety score. <br><br>METHOD: 1541 elementary school children, ages 9-12 years, from the English-speaking Caribbean and Latin America completed the Adolescent Depression Rating Scale (ARDS), the Numeric 0-10 Anxiety Self-Report Scale and the Children's Somatic Symptom Inventory-24 (CSSI-24). T-tests and ANOVA's were used to compare CSSI-24 and ARDS scores among countries, and the CSSI-24 scores of children with (ARDS ≥ 4) and without likely clinically significant depression. Regression analyses assessed possible predictors of CSSI-24 score. <br><br>RESULTS: Depressive and somatic symptom scores were highest among the Jamaican children and lowest among the Colombian children (p <.001). Children with likely clinically significant depression exhibited higher mean somatic symptom scores (p <.001). Depressive symptom scores predicted somatic symptom scores (p <.001). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms were a strong predictor of reporting somatic symptoms. Knowledge of this association may facilitate better recognition of depression among youth.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1359-1045",
doi="10.1177/13591045231178890",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13591045231178890"
}