RESEARCH The Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms in Children with Learning Disabilities

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. D epression serious enough to earn a clinical designation, as opposed to common blue moods, is sometimes referred to as the "common cold of mental illness," because of the malady's prevalence (Gelman et al., 1987). Depression leads to the most hospital admissions for mental illness in the United States and affects 30 million to 40 million Ameri-cans at least once during their lifetime (Feldman, Stiffman, & Jung, 1987; Gelman et al., 1987). Reports indicate that 5 % of adult men, 10 % of adult women, 6 % to 7 % of adolescents, and 1.8 % of children aged 7 to 12 experi-ence depression (Gelman et al., 1987