Epidemiological Sample Of Children Research Articles

Taxometric evidence of a dimensional latent structure for depression in an epidemiological sample of children and adolescents.

A basic phenomenological question of much theoretical and empirical interest is whether the latent structure of depression is dimensional or categorical in nature. Prior taxometric studies of youth depression have yielded mixed findings. In a step towards resolving these contradictory findings, the current taxometric investigation is the first to utilize a recently developed objective index, the comparison curve fit index, to evaluate the latent structure of major depression in an epidemiological sample of children and adolescents. Data were derived from Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britain surveys. Participants were administered a structured diagnostic interview to assess for current depression. Parents (n = 683) were interviewed for children aged 5-16 years, and child interviews (n = 605) were conducted for those aged 11-16 years. MAMBAC (mean above minus below a cut), MAXEIG (maximum eigenvalue) and L-Mode (latent mode) analyses provided convergent support for a dimensional latent structure. The current findings suggest that depression in youth is more accurately conceptualized as a continuous syndrome rather than a discrete diagnostic entity.

The reliability of the ICD-10 and the DC 0-3 in an epidemiological sample of children 1½ years of age.

The aims of this study were to investigate the reliability of ICD-10 and DC 0-3 in the diagnostic classification of mental health problems in 1½ -year-old children from the general population. The reliability study was conducted as a part of an epidemiological survey of psychopathology in 1½ -year-old children from the general population. In this survey, the children were assessed and diagnosed according to the ICD-10 and the DC 0-3 after a 2-hr session including standardized and clinical methods and videorecordings. The case records and video material of 18 children were rediagnosed by the three child psychiatrists, who had diagnosed children in the epidemiological survey. In general, the reliability in diagnostic classification of mental health problems in 1½-year-old children was improved with the DC 0-3 compared to the ICD-10. In the classification of psychopathology at Axis I, the interrater reliability and test-retest reliability kappas were 0.66 and 0.57, respectively, with the ICD-10, and 0.72 and 0.74, respectively, with the DC 0-3. The reliability of the classification of relationship disturbances at Axis II with the DC 0-3 was high, corresponding to κ = 1. A high agreement among raters in the differentiation between psychopathology and normal variations was found. Given experienced clinicians and standardized assessment methods, it is possible to reliably identify and diagnose psychopathology in 1½-year-old children from the general population.

Child and Adolescent Problems Predict DSM-IV Disorders in Adulthood: A 14-Year Follow-up of a Dutch Epidemiological Sample

Few studies exist that examine continuities between child and adult psychopathology in unselected samples. This study prospectively examined the adult outcomes of psychopathology in an epidemiological sample of children and adolescents across a 14-year period. In 1983, parent ratings of behavioral and emotional problems were obtained for 1,578 children and adolescents aged 4 through 16 years from the Dutch general population. At follow-up, 14 years later, subjects were reassessed with a standardized DSM-IV interview. High levels of childhood problems predicted an approximate 2- to 6-fold increased risk for adulthood DSM-IV diagnoses. The associations between specific childhood problems and adulthood diagnoses were complex. Social Problems in girls predicted later DSM-IV disorder. Rule-breaking behavior in boys predicted both mood disorders and disruptive disorders in adulthood. High levels of childhood behavioral and emotional problems are related to DSM-IV diagnoses in adulthood. The strongest predictor of disorders in adulthood was childhood rule-breaking behavior. Attention Problems did not predict any of the DSM-IV categories when adjusted for the associations with other Child Behavior Checklist scales.

Prospective, Longitudinal Study of Tic, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders in an Epidemiological Sample

Understanding the interrelatedness of tics, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been complicated by studying only cross-sectional samples of clinically referred subjects. The authors report the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of these disorders in an epidemiological sample of children followed prospectively into early adulthood. Structured diagnostic interview information was acquired on 976 children, aged 1 to 10 years, who were randomly selected from families living in upstate New York in 1975. Reassessments were acquired in 776 of these subjects 8, 10, and 15 years later. Diagnostic prevalences were estimated at each time point. The associations among tics, OCD, and ADHD were assessed within and across time points, as were their associations with comorbid illnesses and demographic risk factors. In temporal cross-section, tics and ADHD symptoms were associated with OCD symptoms in late adolescence and early adulthood after demographic features and comorbid psychiatric symptoms were controlled. In prospective analyses, tics in childhood and early adolescence predicted an increase in OCD symptoms in late adolescence and early adulthood. ADHD symptoms in adolescence predicted more OCD symptoms in early adulthood, and OCD in adolescence predicted more ADHD symptoms in adulthood. The associations of tics with ADHD were unimpressive in temporal cross-section and were not significant in prospective analyses. Tics, OCD, and ADHD shared numerous complex associations with demographic and psychopathological risk factors. ADHD was associated with lower IQ and lower social status, whereas OCD was associated with higher IQ. Tics and OCD were significantly associated in this sample, as were OCD and ADHD. These findings are in general consistent with those from family studies, and they help to define the natural history, comorbid illnesses, and interrelatedness of these conditions.

Do Unilateral Lesions of the Developing Brain Have Side-specific Psychiatric Consequences in Childhood?

This study used a large epidemiological sample of children with lateralised brain lesions to establish whether damage to the developing human brain has sidespecific psychiatric consequences. Parents and teachers completed behaviour questionnaires on 429 hemiplegic children and teenagers, with a subsample of 149 hemiplegic children also being assessed by parent and child interviews. Although childhood hemiplegia was accompanied by a high rate of psychopathology, children with right- and left-sided hemiplegias did not differ significantly on any dimensional or categorical measure of psychopathology. This absence of laterality effects, perhaps reflecting the developing brain's neuroplasticity, casts doubt on theories linking particular types of child or adult psychopathology to side-specific damage to the developing brain.