Highlights

Abstract

Keywords

۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Methods

۳٫ Results

۴٫ Discussion

Ethical approval details

Funding

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Declaration of competing interest

References

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between depression and learning problems in children, focusing on the mediating role of executive function impairments and inattention. A sample of 115 children, aged 7 to 12 years, who had difficulties in school activities, were tested over the past three years, with different measures assessed by different raters. Regression analyses were employed in analyzing the data. The psychometric tests used were Child Depression Inventory (CDI) and Conners 3rdEdition. Children with a high level of depressive symptoms have also a very high level of learning problems, executive function impairments and inattention. Executive function impairments and inattention add significant explanatory variance for learning problems in school-aged children over and above depression. Executive function impairments and inattention have a partial mediating effect on the relationship between depression and learning problems. The assessment of the executive functions and attention is an important part in the assessment of children with depression; intervention and treatment programs for depression should include components focused on executive functions and attention.

۱٫ Introduction

The relationship between depression and learning problems in children is well established. The fact that depression in children is associated with learning problems, that in turn coexist with cognitive deficits, particularly executive function (EF) and attention impairments, is well supported by the research literature. We know that learning requires not only cognitive abilities, but also affective skills, like self-regulation (Sung & Wickrama, 2018). We also know that executive functions (EF), the mental control processes needed to carry out goal-directed behaviors (Dajani, Llalbre, Nebel, Mostofsky, & Uddin, 2016) and to allow self-regulation (Richards, Vernucci, Stelzer, Introzzi, & Guàrdia-Olmos, 2018), are important for the successful functioning of children, both in learning activities and in social interactions. The current paper argues that not only are learning problems, EF, and inattention highly correlated and co-morbid, but the path from depression to learning problems actually leads through (i.e., is mediated by) EF and inattention. Furthermore, the current paper argues that depression is a predictor (antecedent) of all these three phenomena, thus establishing a serial mediation model, from depression, through EF and inattention and further to learning problems.