Pertinence du Fairy Tales Test chez des enfants français ayant des troubles des apprentissages : résultats préliminaires

Background

The authors have started a preliminary research to start the French validation of a new projective tool for children created by Coulacoglou (1996): The Fairy Tales test (FTT). Using tales to invite the child to tell a story is not rare in the field of child clinical psychology (Düss, 1949; Royer, 1978; de Tychey, 1993). FTT is a novel way of accessing the inner life of children through structured fantasy and storytelling. The FTT has the advantage of using stories that many children are familiar with (Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). The FTT includes an interview guide (many questions ask about the thoughts and feelings of the characters) and is composed of seven sets of stimulus cards with three cards per set. The three pictures differ just enough to vary in emotional valence, usually by alteration in facial expressions and body postures of the characters.

Methods

We have compared FFT responses of 80 children aged from 6 to 12 years and divided into two groups (clinical group composed of children with learning disabilities versus control group). The aim of that exploratory study was to study three psychological important variables of the FTT: anxiety, depression and self-esteem levels.

Results

FTT indicators allow us to differenciate significatively (using Chi Square Method) the two groups’ distributions. Anxiety and depression levels are higher in the clinical group and self-esteem level was lower in the same group. These data suggest the interest to develop further FTT validation since the usefulness of that tool has been demonstrated in other countries such as Greece (Coulacoglou, 1996, 2008), Russia (Savina, 2008), China (Li and Zhang, 2008), India (Sanyal and Dasgupta, 2008) and Turkey (Ikiz-Ertem-Vehid-Düsgor, 2008).

Conclusion

Our preliminary study shows us FTT discriminant power to differenciate a group of children with learning disabilities compared to a control group for three important dimensions of personality: anxiety, depression and self-esteem levels. Now it is necessary to undertake further validation on FTT in France with several goals: larger samples, more contrasted clinical groups and evaluation of the other FTT indicators not studied in the present article.