Emotional and Behavioral Health Needs in Elementary School Students in an Underserved Hispanic Community.
Yuqing Guo, Julie Rousseau, Anna S Hsu and 7 others
PMID 28893118WHAT IT FOUND
In this school, children and teachers rarely agreed on which students had emotional symptoms.
Only four of 196 children were flagged by both for depression, and one for anxiety. School nurses should ask children directly, not rely on teacher observation alone.
Key findings
01Child and teacher reports agreed on only four of 196 children for depression and one of 196 for anxiety.
02On questionnaire scores, 11 children self-reported borderline or clinical depression and 13 self-reported anxiety; teacher reports placed 14 children in borderline or clinical depression and 11 in anxiety.
03Girls self-reported higher depression and anxiety than boys, and children living with a single parent had higher depression on both child and teacher reports.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was one bilingual charter school with 202 mostly Hispanic third- and fourth-grade children, so results may not apply to other schools or communities. Questionnaire scores were used as screening categories, not clinical diagnoses, and no clinician confirmed the children's mental health. Parents did not report children's mental health, so behavior at home was not captured. Socioeconomic details such as parent education, immigration status and acculturation were not collected, so those factors cannot be separated. The study did not test any intervention, so it cannot show that screening or school programs improve outcomes.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these questionnaire scores as confirmed diagnoses or as proof that school-based screening improves care. The study used a score of 65 or higher as a borderline or clinical cutoff in one school and did not test any treatment or screening program.