Prevalence of depression and protective factors in a population of children aged 8 to 10 years, suffering from specific learning disorders, in a special education and home care service (SESSAD)

Matteo Bussoletti; Dana Castro; Rafika Zebdi; Viviane Matar Touma

doi:10.1016/j.encep.2023.08.008

Prevalence of depression and protective factors in a population of children aged 8 to 10 years, suffering from specific learning disorders, in a special education and home care service (SESSAD)

Encephale. 2023 Oct 7:S0013-7006(23)00153-7. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2023.08.008. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Matteo Bussoletti¹, Dana Castro², Rafika Zebdi³, Viviane Matar Touma⁴

Affiliations

¹ Service d'éducation spéciale et de soins à domicile (SESSAD), association trisomie 21, 7, rue Max-Carpentier, 27470 Serquigny, France.
² Université Paris Nanterre, UFR SPSE, UR CLIPSYD, 200, avenue de la République, 92000 Nanterre, France. Electronic address: dana.castro.psycho@gmail.com.
³ Université Paris Nanterre, UFR SPSE, UR CLIPSYD, 200, avenue de la République, 92000 Nanterre, France.
⁴ Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines, laboratoire de psychologie Clinique et Cognitive (LPCC), université-saint Joseph, Beyrouth, Liban.

PMID: 37813722
DOI: 10.1016/j.encep.2023.08.008

Abstract

Objectives: Evaluate the prevalence of depression in a population of children aged 8 to 10 years with learning disabilities treated in a Special Education and Home Care Service (SESSAD) and identify the protective factors that might preserve these children from depressive and affective problems.

Methods: Twenty children, aged 8 to 10, with learning disabilities were evaluated prior to their admission in SESSAD. Depression had been assessed through the Multiscore Depression Inventory for Children (MDIC), adapted to the French population as well as their developmental position in relation with their perceptual maturity of their body schema, through the Draw your family drawing. The protective factors were assessed through the qualitative analysis of the stories told on the Draw your family projective drawing and card 4, 9, 20 of The Socialization Test for Children (TSEA). Quantitative data were computed through descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests (Spearman's correlation test) by the jamovi© statistic software (V.2.3.24), and the qualitative data were analyzed through thematic content analysis and lexical text analysis through the TROPES software (V.8.3).

Results: Quantitative data showed for the entire group: (1) a perceptual maturity delay of the body schema in 75% of the sample; (2) a low incidence of depression in this population with, however, 40% of the sample, (aged 8 and 9) displaying a critical threshold for feelings of helplessness. The qualitative analysis of the Draw your family and TSEA stories allowed to underline some of the protective factors against depression and those which refer, in decreasing order, to the social support given by family members, peers, and the emotional substitutes (animals).

Conclusions: This research highlighted the precocity of the feelings of helplessness in this population and the importance given by these children to the social support. These findings and future research on the topic might be used to guide the design and implementation of adjusted interventions addressing both the development of their learning capability and psychological empowerment.

Keywords: Children; Depression; Dépression; Enfants; Helplessness; Learning disabilities; Sentiment d’impuissance; Social support; Soutien social; Troubles des apprentissages.