They were the blind spot of mental health research. New data concerning children were published on Tuesday, June 20, through a survey by Public Health France. Called Enabee, the study focused on students aged 6 to 11, educated in metropolitan France. And the finding is clear: 13% of them have a “probable” mental health disorder. This equates to almost four children in a class of thirty.
To achieve this result, Enabee surveyed more than 15,000 children and more than 15,000 teachers in nearly 400 schools between the beginning of May and the end of July 2022. 10,000 parents also completed the questionnaire. It is therefore not a question of “clinical diagnoses”, but of a crossing of points of view making it possible to identify “probable disorders”, specifies Public Health France.
In detail: 6.6% of pupils from CP to CM2 have a probable oppositional disorder. This means that they adopt a particularly provocative and bellicose behavior. 5.6% of respondents have a probable emotional disorder, which can include anxiety, specific phobias, or even depressive disorders. Girls are more affected. Conversely, boys are more represented among the 3.2% of children with attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD).
The impact of Covid-19 difficult to assess
The Enabee survey did not find any differences based on grade level or school sector. She also claims that the share of pupils concerned is “of the same order of magnitude” as that observed in other European countries in 2010 and 2017. On the other hand, it is impossible to assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. 19 on the results, since Public Health France does not have previous data to compare them with the current ones.
But new information will be released soon. “We are laying the first stone for this essential knowledge base for public action”, explains Caroline Semaille, Director General of Public Health France. “Our next step will be to enrich and refine this knowledge.” The Enabee survey should therefore be repeated, with deployment to overseas territories. Data on children attending kindergarten are also being analyzed.