Relational aspects and symptomatic patterns in a clinical sample of children

ntroduction The issue related tohow the early relationships impact on the development of psychopathology in infancy and childhood or vice versa is hard to investigate. An answer is not possible yet but the study of reciprocal influences is crucial.Aim The aim of this study was the assessment of symptomatic aspects in clinical children, relationship’s qualities with the caregiver and the evaluation of correlations between these aspects. It was also evaluated the impact of traumatic experiences on the children development.Material and Methods The sample is composed of 196 children (0 to 5 years, average age 46 months) with different clinical diagnosis. Symptom aspects were measured through the CBCL, compiled by the parents, and C-TRF, compiled by the clinician. The relationship with both caregivers, mother and father, was evaluated by the clinician with the Parent-Child Relationship Scale (P-CRS). General and clinical information on patients and clinician has been collected with the Clinical Data Form.Results Significant differences were found between the diagnosis of children and relationship issues (P-CRS), as well as with the syndromic scales (CBCL and C-TRF). Additionally significant correlations emerge between the P-CRS scales, CBCL scales and C-TRF scales. Finally, it was interesting to note that the growth of children's ages is related with relationship problems but not with symptomatic pattern. Conclusions The study highlights how these children are characterized by clinical symptom, internalizing aspects and externalising behaviours, as well as by difficulties in the relationship with the caregiver. Furthermore early traumatic experiences affect relational aspects. These evidences show the importance of the parent-child relationship’s assessment from the early stages of development.