Emotional and Behavioural Problems of Children and Youth With Intellectual Disabilities Following the February 6 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Nothing was measured before the earthquake and there was no comparison group, so the study cannot show that the earthquake caused these difficulties, or that these children are worse off than they would otherwise have been. Only 52 children in one Turkish province took part, all rated by 13 teachers, so the numbers are small and the authors say the findings may not transfer to other countries or services. Everything rests on teachers' impressions from a questionnaire, not on clinical assessment or on what the children themselves reported, and the drawing test was scored by raters using a system the authors themselves describe as not standardised and open to subjective judgement. The study did not record whether children were directly exposed to the earthquake, saw it only through media or household discussion, or were displaced, so it cannot say which children were most affected. The questionnaire asks about the two months before the teacher filled it in, which is well after the earthquake, so it does not capture the immediate aftermath. The three score areas cover different numbers of items, so comparing their averages with each other should be done with care.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest and state that they have nothing to report on funding.

Do not read this as evidence that the earthquakes caused these problems. No measurement was taken before the earthquake and there is no comparison group, so the study can only describe what teachers reported afterwards. Do not treat the drawings as a diagnostic result either: the authors themselves say the scoring is not standardised and the interpretation is subjective.