Prevalence and comorbidity of psychiatric disorders among 6-year-old children: 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort

Abstract

PurposeMost studies published on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children were conducted in high-income countries despite the fact that nearly 90 % of the world’s population aged under 18 live in low- and middle-income countries. The study aimed to assess the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children of 6 years of age, to examine the distribution of psychiatric disorders by gender and socioeconomic status and to evaluate the occurrence of psychiatric comorbidities.MethodsThe 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort originally comprised 4,231 live births from Pelotas, southern Brazil. A total of 3,585 (84.7 % of 4,231 births) children aged 6 years were assessed using the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA).ResultsNearly 13 % of the children presented a psychiatric diagnosis according to DSM-IV, being more prevalent among males than females (14.7 and 11.7 %, respectively, p = 0.009). Anxiety disorders were the most prevalent of all disorders (8.8 %) and specific phobias (5.4 %) and separation anxiety disorder (3.2 %) were the most common subtypes. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (2.6 %), oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (2.6 %), and depression (1.3 %) were also diagnosed. More than one psychiatric disorder was presented by 17 % of children. Socioeconomically disadvantaged children had a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders.ConclusionOur findings underline the early onset of psychiatric disorders among children and the frequent occurrence of psychiatric comorbidity. Early prevention is needed in the field of mental health in Brazil and should start during infancy.

Fear of Heights and Visual Height Intolerance in Children 8–10 Years Old

“…A higher female susceptibility has also been reported for the specific phobia fear of heights [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The prepubertal children in the current study showed no gender predominance in susceptibility.…”

“…When the definition of "excessive fears and worries or phobias" was broadened, prevalence rates of 7 to 9% were found. A survey on the prevalence and comorbidity of psychiatric disorders among 6-year-olds revealed that specific phobias (without any specification of the subtypes, e.g., animal, natural environment, blood or injection injury) were the most common subtypes of anxiety disorders, having a frequency of 5.4% [12]. In another study on dishabituation processes in fear of heights in children, fear of heights was found to occur in 6.9% of children aged 11 years and in 19.1% of young adults aged 18 years, if moderate and severe forms were included [13].…”

Sexual abuse in very young children: a psychological assessment in the Amsterdam Sexual Abuse Case study

“…A Norwegian study on psychiatric prevalence in the general preschoolers’ population found a 7.1% rate for any psychiatric disorder using a diagnostic parent interview (Wichstrøm et al, 2012). Similarly, a population study of Brazilian 6-year-olds found a prevalence of 8% in children from high-income families (Petresco et al, 2014). To our knowledge, no comparable prevalence studies have been conducted in that age group in the Netherlands.…”

Patterns of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders and associated factors in outpatients attending child psychiatry clinic: a hospital based study

“…Specific phobia (5 %) and separation anxiety disorder (3%) were the most prevalent anxiety disorders. 17 28.7% of the patients in our study had psychiatric comorbidities, i.e., dual psychiatric diagnosis. While the occurrence of more than one diagnosis was seen among (18.3 %) of the children in a study from Brazil.…”