TSHIANDA KAPINGA Joséphat

Thesis presented and defended with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of Psychology.

Promoter:

Dr TinguYaba Nzolameso Maurice, Full Professor

Co-promoters:

Dr. Masiala ma Solo André, Professor Emeritus

Dr. Kabeya Kadiebue Mathieu, Full Professor

SUMMARY

In the practice of our profession as clinical psychologists, the signs of depression observed in its: comorbidity or not with anxiety in our Congolese child patients living in Kinshasa have attracted our attention, especially since in our scientific circle this pathology is "if not ignored" still not exploited in children.

The fact that these children were receiving psychological consultations with academic failure as the main reason was even more interesting to us, given that the literature review and previous studies conducted in the West provide sufficient evidence that academic failure could lead to depression and vice versa.

Based on the arguments of these studies and wanting to specifically clinically assess depression in pre-pubescent children who are failing at school, we used the tools used in these different studies to conduct our own. The CDI (Cheldren's Depression Inventory) scale and the semi-directive interview, which delved into the subjects' responses to the questions on this scale, assessed depression; the R-CMAS (Revealed Cheldren Manifest Anxiety Scale), which assesses anxiety in children, allowed us to verify the depression-anxiety comorbidity; and the non-directive interview gave us information on the child's relationship with his or her family and school environment, as well as the influence. Psychotherapeutic approaches: approaches administered separately (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Systemic Family Therapy, and Psychoanalytically Inspired Therapy) and the eclectic approach, where we combined the techniques of two or three therapies. To which we have used for the psychological care of our patients.

It turns out that at the end of our research, the results show that the subjects present the symptoms of depression in its comorbidity with anxiety; girls are more depressed than boys; children living in the community (nuclear family and extended family) are less depressed than those who live only in the nuclear or extended family; their relationships in family and at school are altered; and the eclectic approach is the most indicated in the management of depression in prepubescent children who are failing at school.

The results of this thesis obtained from 46 subjects” were possible thanks to the clinical method for data collection. As well as the quantitative and qualitative method which allowed the processing and analysis of the results.

Generally speaking, our results are consistent with previous studies, at least with regard to the presence of depression accompanied by anxiety. Unlike these previous studies, our female subjects were more depressed than the male subjects.

Keywords : Clinical assessment, childhood depression, pre-pubescent child, academic failure