Self-reported mental health in school-aged children using the Dominic interactive questionnaire in the French Enabee 2022 study

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to develop rigorous epidemiological monitoring of children’s mental health in France. The Dominic Interactive (DI) assesses children’s perceptions of their own mental health using illustrated questions, which reflect situations associated with symptoms of common disorders. Although many studies have used the DI, the last time its psychometric properties were assessed on school-aged children in France was in 2004. In the Enabee 2022 study, as part of a novel homonymous epidemiological monitoring project 15,206 child attending school in metropolitan France filled in the DI. Using data from Enabee 2022, the present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of DI (internal consistency and factorial structure) and to assess the self-reported prevalence of mental health problems in children. The Cronbach alpha and Mc Donald’s Omega were acceptable for all DI subscales assessing a specific mental health disorder. The initial factor structure was confirmed for each subscale. Overall, 28.7% of the study sample had reported at least one probable mental health disorder. Phobias and separation anxiety disorder were the most frequent disorders (9.4% and 10.7%, respectively), especially among girls (13.6% and 12.6%). In contrast, although major depression was the least reported disorder (5.5%), it had the strongest correlations with other disorders. This study provides the first results for self-reported mental health in children within the framework of the novel French mental health surveillance system Enabee. Integrating the DI in this system assures that children’s self-reported symptoms can be taken into consideration when assessing their mental health.