The present study compared girls and boys with and without learning disabilities (LD) on mean reports of depressive symptoms, prevalence of depression and type of depressive symptoms reported. One hundred children with LD (46 girls, 54 boys) ana 104 children without LD (50 girls, 54 boys) were compared on the Children's Depression Inventory's (Kovacs, 1992) overall score, percent meeting the cutoff for depression (19) and subscale factor scores indicating symptom patterns. Results revealed that (a) mean level of depressive symptoms between students with and without LD did not differ but prevalence of depression was marginally different; (b) girls with LD reported higher mean levels of depressive symptoms and higher prevalence of depression than girls without LD, whereas there was no difference in mean levels of depressive symptoms or prevalence of depression for boys with or without LD; (c) students with LD reported more symptoms of ineffectiveness; (d) girls reported more negative mood and less interpersonal problems than boys; and (e) girls with LD reported more symptoms indicative of a loss of pleasure, negative self-esteem and interpersonal problems relative to their peers without LD, while boys with or without LD did not differ in their symptom type reports. Implications and limitations of the results are discussed with reference to previous research and directions for future investigation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BartellN. P.ReynoldsW. M. (1986). Depression and self-esteem in academically gifted and nongifted children: A comparison study. Journal of School Psychology, 24, 55–61.
2.
BenderW. N. (1995). Learning disabilities: Characteristics, identification, and teaching strategies, second editionToronto: Allyn & Bacon.
3.
BenderW. N.RosenkransC. B.CraneM. K. (1999). Stress, depression, and suicide among students with learning disabilities: Assessing the risk. Learning Disability Quarterly, 22, 143–156.
4.
BenderW. N.WallM. E. (1994). Social-emotional development of students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 17, 323–342.
5.
CampbellT. L.ByrneB. N.BaronP. (1992). Gender differences in the expression of depressive symptoms in early adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 12, 326–338.
6.
CareyM. P.FaulstichM. E.GreshamF. M.RuggerioL.EnyartP. (1987). Children's Depression Inventory: Construct and discriminant validity across clinical and nonreferred (control) populations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 755–761.
7.
CarlsonG. A.KashaniJ. H. (1988). Phenomenology of major depression from childhood through adulthood. Analysis of three studies. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 1222–1225.
8.
CenterD. B.WascomA. M. (1986). Teacher perceptions of social behavior in disabled and socially normal children and youth. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19, 420–425.
9.
CLD Research Committee: RosenbergM. S.BottD.MajsterekD.ChiangB.GartlandD.WessonC.GrahamS.Smith-MylesB.MillerM.SwansonH. L.BenderW.RiveraD.WilsonR. (1993). Minimum standards for the description of participants in learning disabilities research. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 26, 210–213.
10.
ColeD. A.CarpentieriS. (1990). Social status and the comorbidity of child depression and conduct disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 748–757.
11.
CraigheadW. E.CurryJ. F.IllardiS. S. (1995). Relationship of Children's Depression Inventory factors to major depression among adolescents. Psychological Assessment, 7, 171–176.
12.
EpsteinM. H.BursuckW.CullinanD. (1985). Patterns of behavior problems among the learning disabled: Boys aged 12–18, girls aged 6–11, and girls aged 12–18. Learning Disability Quarterly, 8, 123–129.
13.
FawcettJ.ScheftnerW.ClarkD.HedekerD.GibbonsR.CoryellW. (1987). Clinical predictors of suicide in patients with major affective disorder: A controlled prospective study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 35–40.
14.
GoldsteinP.PaulG. G.Sanfilippo-CohenS. S. (1985). Depression in subgroups of children with learning disabilities. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 263–275.
15.
HallC. W.HawsD. (1989). Depressive symptomatology in learning disabled and nonlearning disabled students. Psychology in the Schools, 26, 359–364.
16.
HassatI. D.GurianA. (1984). The learning disabled girl: A profilePaper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.
17.
HeathN. L. (1996). The emotional domain: Self-concept and depression in children with learning disabilities. Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities, 10A, 47–75.
18.
HeathN. L.RossS. (1995, June). Two workers' worlds: Teachers' beliefs and researchers' findings concerning the emotional well-being of children with learning disabilities and gifted childrenPaper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Association of Educational Psychology, Social Sciences Congress, Montreal.
19.
HuntingtonD. D.BenderW. N. (1993). Adolescents with learning disabilities at risk? Emotional well-being, depression and suicide. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 26, 159–166.
20.
KavaleK. A.FornessS. R. (1998). The politics of learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 21, 245–276.
21.
KazdinA. (1990). Childhood depression. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31, 121–160.
22.
KazdinA.FrenchN. H.UnisA. S.Esveldt-DawsonK. (1983). Assessment of childhood depression: Correspondence of child and parent ratings. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 22, 157–164.
23.
KitmuraT.SugaR. (1991). Depressive and negative symptoms in major psychiatric disorders. Comparative Psychiatry, 32, 88–94.
24.
KovacsM. (1992). Children's Depression Inventory. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems, Inc.
25.
LivingstonR. (1985). Depressive illness and learning difficulties: Research needs and practical implications. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 18, 518–520.
26.
MaagJ. W.FornessS. R. (1991). Depression in children and adolescents: Identification, assessment and treatment. Focus on Exceptional Children, 24, 1–19.
27.
NewcomerP. L.BarenbaumE.PearsonN. (1995). Depression and anxiety in children and adolescents with learning disabilities, conduct disorders and no learning disabilities. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 3, 27–39.
28.
PetersonC. A.KnudsonR. M. (1983). Anhedonia: A construct validation approach. Journal of Personality Assessment, 47, 539–551.
29.
PetersenA. C.SarigianiP. A.KennedyR. (1991). Adolescent depression: Why more girls?Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 20, 247–271.
30.
ReynoldsW. M.JohnstonH. F. (1994). The nature and study of depression in children and adolescents. In ReynoldsW. M.JohnstonH. F. (Eds.), Handbook of depression in children and adolescents (pp 3–17). New York: Plenum Press.
31.
RinaldiC. M.BrownA. E.RossS.HeathN. L.SmithT. (1996). Exceptionality and risk for depression: An examination of the literature. Exceptionality Education Canada, 4, 159–182.
32.
Robinson-AwanaP.KehleT. J.JensonW. R. (1986). But what about smart girls? Adolescent self-esteem and sex role perceptions as a function of academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 179–183.
33.
RodriguezC. M.RouthD. K. (1989). Depression, anxiety and attributional style in learning disabled and non-learning disabled children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 18, 299–304.
34.
SattlerJ. M. (1988). Assessment in children (3rd. ed.) San Diego: Jerome M. Sattler.
35.
SaylorC. F.FinchA. J.BaskinC. H.FureyW.KellyM. M. (1984). Construct validity for measures of childhood depression: Application of mutlitrait-multimethod methodology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 977–985.
36.
SaylorC. F.FinchA. J.SpiritoA.BennettB. (1984). The Children's Depression Inventory: A systematic evaluation of psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 955–967.
37.
SpekmanN. J.GoldbergR. J.HermanK. L. (1993). An exploration of risk and resilience in the lives of individuals with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 8, 11–18.
38.
StainbackW.StainbackS.BunchG. (1989). A rationale for the merger of regular and special education. In StainbackS.StainbackW.ForestM. (Eds.), Educating all students in the mainstream of regular education (pp. 15–26). Toronto, Ont: Paul H. Brooks.
39.
StevensJ. (1988). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
40.
StevensonD.RomneyD. (1984). Depression in learning disabled children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 17, 579–582.
41.
VogelS. A. (1990). Gender differences in intelligence, language, visual-motor abilities and academic achievement in students with learning disabilities. A review of the literature. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23, 44–51.
42.
WeissB.WeiszJ. R. (1988). Factor structure of self-reported depression: Clinic referred children versus adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 492–495.
43.
WeissB.WeiszJ. R.PolitanoM.CareyM.NelsonW. M.FinchA. J. (1991). Developmental differences in the factor structure of theChildren's Depression Inventory. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 3, 38–45.
44.
WorchelF.NolanB.WilsonV. (1987). New perspectives on child and adolescent depression. Journal of School Psychology, 25, 411–414.
45.
Wright-StrawdermanC.WatsonB. L. (1992). The prevalence of depressive symptoms in children with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 258–264.
