[Identification of disturbed pupils within the educational system: comparative evaluation of two systems of...

A study was carried out in the Poitou-Charentes region to assess and compare the professional practices in secondary schools offering two different systems of response and guidance. The evaluation method was based upon an analysis of the rates of concurrence between the evaluation of the students' answers to an epidemiological self-administered questionnaire filled out before a clinical interview, and the conclusions of the psychiatric nurses after this interview. Comparisons between the specific system and the standard general system of National Education highlighted an increased capacity of professionals in the more specific system to distinguish a high risk of suicidal tendencies from a low risk or absence of risk, while the standard system was more effective in screening and detecting overall levels of well-being across the entire student population. Moreover, the guidance support and counseling proposed in the specialised system seemed to better meet the pupils' needs more accurately than in the standard system.