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Young adolescents, depression and…the Titanic syndrome
3/26/13

In the thesis Aurore Boulard presents and brings together three research studies. They have enabled her to better understand the complex pathology which is depression, in particular during adolescence. She began by adapting and by validating depression scale measuring tests. They have primarily allowed her to decode the subjective experience of adolescences in relation to their most intimate social sphere. She thus studied the influence of the school – an essential socialisation site – but also that of peer groups, because being accepted or rejected plays an important role in the mental health of young people. Intimate friendships were also investigated. When they are positive they have an effect on self esteem and social adaptation. When they are negative they are, particularly for girls, a source of stress, high levels of anxiety and depression. The effects of puberty and above all of perceived pubertal timing were also observed in terms of young people’s perception of being either behind or ahead in comparison with their peers.

The weight of attacks

The school forms a whole within which the influence of peers, adults and the establishment model (it could be elitist for example) interact and affect the wellbeing of the teenager. The ensemble of the factors involved – including harassment – has been analysed by Aurore Boulard within a complete model used for her first investigation on ‘The social context and its links with depressive humour’. These results arose from a wider research study on school victimisation carried out in 2003, working together with the Catholic University of Louvain, in 38 school institutions representing the three levels of education, taking in 2,896 pupils aged 12 to 18. They each responded to a fifty minute questionnaire.

The psychologist was thus able to confirm that the depression scores were twice as high for girls aged 15 in comparison with boys. She also brought to light variables and depression predictors: the gender of the teenager, their age and also the presence of verbal attacks, a feeling of exclusion, as well as school results and, which could appear surprising – including to the researchers themselves initially – prosocial behaviour.

Teenagers at the greatest risk of depression tend to seek out contact with others,’ explains the psychologist. ‘They are always ready to help others and are attentive that everyone is well integrated. Several hypotheses can help to explain this attitude. One might at first think that a young person who is himself experiencing exclusion, or who feels poorly integrated, is doubtless more attentive or more sensitive to the moods of others. He might also try not to reproduce behaviour which hurts him. Moreover when a teenager feels that he is dropping out of the group he tries to stay within it at all cost. A kind of survival behaviour thus pushes him to be ‘nice’ in order to keep a social link which is important, if not vital, at this age.’

Nonetheless this prosocial behaviour is far from settling everything, on the contrary. ‘These attempts can be frowned upon and lead to exclusion being favoured,’ warns Aurore Boulard. Another factor deserves to be placed side by side with this point: that of the weight of intimate friendships (investigated in the second research study). No matter at what age, the fact of not having a best friend of the same sex is highly correlated with feelings of depression (and that is so even if one has one or two close friends from the opposite gender). In this context it is also important to understand the attitude of teenagers – and above all female teenagers – who have a great close friend. ‘Girls, in particular, are likely to want a strong and exclusive relationship. In fact they cling onto this friend, which stops them ‘letting go.’ If this relationship cracks, or it doesn’t meet their demands, which are often high, the risks grow of falling into a depression likely to lead to hospitalisation,’ points out the psychologist.

Another little known element is highlighted in this first research study by Aurore Boulard, that of the effects of verbal attacks on depressive moods, and their impact on the factors which can lead to serious depression. ‘Young people do not relate injurious statements they have been subject to, any more than they express themselves, generally speaking, when they feel excluded from the group. Very often verbal attacks are not picked up by teachers or school staff, if only because it is difficult to be aware of them when one only spends a few hours, spread out over a week, with the young people. In practice this phenomenon is thus minimised by teenagers and teachers,’ she observes.

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