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Étude du développement psychologique de l'enfant atteint d'une drépanocytose

par Lambotte, Isabelle ;De Coster, Lotta ;Ferster, Alina ;Delvenne, Véronique
Référence Neuropsychiatrie de l'enfance et de l'adolescence, 67, 2, page (61-69)
Publication Publié, 2019-03-01

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

Objective: Study of the psychological development of eight children aged 6 to 12 years and suffering from sickle cell anemia. Methodology: Individual and family interviews with the children and their parents. Emotional, intellectual evaluation of the medical, family and social context using psychometric tools (WISC-IV, MDI-C, AUQUEI), a semi-directive interview and projective media (drawing, modeling, CAT, CAT-S). Results: The children evaluate their quality of life as good. Except for a self-reported low energy level, the disease seems globally not invasive. Two children, however, show depression with anxiety on the depression scale. Concerning their psychological development, the children have a regular intellectual functioning and a school curriculum without any particularity. Faced with the issue of the disease, there are communication difficulties as well for the children as for their families. The authors observe a traumatic reaction for the parents. In the context of the disease, the children present an inhibited level of mental elaboration (avoidance) which differs little from that of their parents and family. The psychic adjustments in the relational field are of good quality but the children scarcely unfold and display their imagination (they tend to cling to reality and have little access to their personal fantasy life). They present anxiety related to separation-differentiation processes and a need for relational support. Conclusion: Despite the difficulties in subjective appropriation of the disease and empowerment-individuation problems, the children's defensive mechanisms are diversified and operational. Their defensive mechanisms, as well as their creativity, fluctuate with the investigation tools used during the testing situation. This observation leads the authors to underline the interest of varying the evaluation tools in order to be able to observe all the child's resources to cope with its sickle cell anemia.