DSM-III disorders in preadolescent children. Prevalence in a large sample from the general population.

We investigated the prevalence of DSM-III disorders in 792 children aged 11 years from the general population and found an overall prevalence of disorder of 17.6% with a sex ratio (boys-girls) of 1.7:1. The most prevalent disorders were attention deficit, oppositional, and separation anxiety disorders, and the least prevalent were depression and social phobia. Conduct disorder, overanxious disorder, and simple phobia had intermediate prevalences. Pervasive disorders, reported by more than one source, had an overall prevalence of 7.3%. Examination of background behavioral data disclosed that children identified at 11 years as having multiple disorders had a history of behavior problems since 5 years of age on parent and teacher reports. Fifty-five percent of the disorders occurred in combination with one or more other disorders, and 45% as a single disorder.

[1]  B. Herjanic,et al.  Are children reliable reporters? , 1975, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[2]  M. Kovács,et al.  Depressive disorders in childhood. I. A longitudinal prospective study of characteristics and recovery. , 1984, Archives of general psychiatry.

[3]  W. Reich,et al.  Development of a structured psychiatric Interview for children: Agreement on diagnosis comparing child and parent interviews , 1982, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[4]  B. Dohrenwend,et al.  Estimating the prevalence of childhood psychopathology. A critical review. , 1981, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

[5]  C. Edelbrock,et al.  Psychopathology of childhood. , 1984, Annual review of psychology.

[6]  J. Feighner,et al.  Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research. , 1972, Archives of general psychiatry.

[7]  B. Lahey,et al.  Are attention deficit disorders with and without hyperactivity similar or dissimilar disorders? , 1984, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

[8]  J. Loney.  Hyperkinesis comes of age: what do we know and where should we go? , 1980, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[9]  J. Werry,et al.  The interrater reliability of DSM III in children , 1983, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[10]  M. Stewart,et al.  The overlap between hyperactive and unsocialized aggressive children. , 1981, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[11]  M. Rutter,et al.  DSM-III. A step forward or back in terms of the classification of child psychiatric disorders? , 1980, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

[12]  C. Paternite,et al.  Empirical basis for subgrouping the hyperkinetic/minimal brain dysfunction syndrome. , 1978, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[13]  A. J. Robins,et al.  Depression in a sample of 9-year-old children, Prevalence and associated characteristics. , 1983, Archives of general psychiatry.

[14]  M. Rutter.  Psychopathology and Development: I. Childhood Antecedents of Adult Psychiatric Disorder , 1984, The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry.

[15]  A. Costello,et al.  Empirical corroboration of attention deficit disorder. , 1984, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

[16]  P. Silva,et al.  Behaviour problems in a population of seven-year-old children: prevalence, stability and types of disorder--a research report. , 1984, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[17]  P. Silva,et al.  Behavioral and developmental characteristics of aggressive, hyperactive and aggressive-hyperactive boys. , 1984, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

[18]  J. Cooper,et al.  Reliability of a Procedure for Measuring and Classifying “Present Psychiatric State” , 1967, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[19]  M. Rutter,et al.  Attainment and Adjustment in Two Geographical Areas , 1975, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[20]  R. Milich,et al.  Independent dimensions of hyperactivity and aggression: a validation with playroom observation data. , 1982, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[21]  Phil A. Silva,et al.  The Rutter scale for completion by teachers: factor structure and relationships with cognitive abilities and family adversity for a sample of New Zealand children. , 1985, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[22]  L. Robins,et al.  Deviant children grown up , 1967, European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[23]  A. Costello,et al.  Age differences in the reliability of the psychiatric interview of the child. , 1985, Child development.

[24]  M. Rutter,et al.  Education, Health and Behaviour , 1970 .

[25]  B. Lahey,et al.  On the independence of ratings of hyperactivity, conduct problems, and attention deficits in children: a multiple regression analysis. , 1980, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[26]  P. Silva,et al.  Background characteristics of aggressive, hyperactive, and aggressive-hyperactive boys. , 1984, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

[27]  Jacob Cohen.  A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales , 1960 .

[28]  W. Yule.  The Epidemiology of Child Psychopathology , 1981 .