Mental Health Profiles in Children and Adolescents with Visual Impairment: The Role of Syndromic Etiology and Vision Severity.

Background

Visual impairment is associated with mental health difficulties in children, yet emotional and behavioral profiles across different etiologies and levels of visual impairment remain poorly characterized. We investigated whether these outcomes were associated with syndromic etiology or visual impairment severity.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, parents of 69 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years with visual impairment completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18). Participants were grouped by etiology (syndromic, n = 14; non-syndromic, n = 55) and by visual impairment severity (mild-to-moderate, n = 33; severe-to-profound, n = 36). Group differences were assessed using Mann-Whitney U tests with false discovery rate (FDR) correction, complemented by categorical analyses using scale-specific CBCL clinical thresholds.

Results

No significant differences in emotional or behavioral symptoms were observed between the syndromic and non-syndromic groups, although the small syndromic subgroup limited statistical power. In contrast, children with mild-to-moderate visual impairment had significantly higher scores on the Anxious/Depressed and Somatic Complaints scales than those with severe-to-profound impairment, with both differences remaining significant after FDR correction. Categorical analyses also showed a higher prevalence of clinically significant Anxious/Depressed and Internalizing Problems in the mild-to-moderate group.

Conclusions

Children with mild-to-moderate visual impairment exhibited higher Anxious/Depressed and Somatic Complaints scores than those with severe-to-profound impairment. These findings suggest that children with residual vision may represent an underrecognized subgroup at risk for emotional difficulties and support routine psychological screening across the spectrum of pediatric visual impairment.