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The Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms in Children with Learning Disabilities

Billy L. Watson

Carol Wright-Strawderman, PhD, is an assistant professor of special education at Texas Tech University. Her role as a data collector for another student's dissertation about children recovering from leukemia led to her interest and dissertation in possible depression in children with learning disabilities. Her current interests include interventions to alleviate symptoms of depression, teacher preparation, and use of technology with children with learning disabilities and hearing impairments. Billy L. Watson, EdD, is a professor of special education at the University of New Mexico. He is also a member of the curriculum committee and a master faculty member of the Southwest Regional Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Prevention Center in Houston. His current interests are depression in individuals with disabilities and training programs for teachers of children with brain injury. Address: Carol Wright-Strawderman, Texas Tech University, Division of Educational Psychology and Leadership, Box 4560, Lubbock, TX 79409-1071.

Learning difficulties have been considered to be a symptom of childhood depression by some authors, whereas others have examined depression as a cause of cognitive difficulties, including learning disabilities (LD). This study examined the prevalence of depressive symptoms in a sample of public school elementary children aged 8 through 11, 37 boys and 16 girls, identified as LD by state standards. Of the sample of 53 children, 35.85% scored in the depressed range on the Children's Depression Inventory. Comparison of the children's self-reports and parents' reports of depressive symptoms in their children was not significant. Implications of the results are discussed relative to the role of school personnel and the assessment process in recognizing depressive symptoms in students with LD.

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