The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Vietnamese children and adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Vietnamese children and adolescents living in Perth, Western Australia. Design, participants and setting: A list of Vietnamese households was drawn from Perth telephone directories. A computer program generated a systematic probability sample of households. All children and adolescents aged 9–17 in these households were invited to participate in the study. Children and their parents were interviewed in their home using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, version 2.3 (DISC‐2.3). The child version (DISC‐C) was used for children and the parent version (DISC‐P) for adults. The study was conducted between July and December 1997. Main outcome measures: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents, based on DISC‐C and DISC‐P data. Results: Results were based on the 519 children (89.2%) for whom complete data were available. Twenty‐three parents (4.4%) reported that their child had one or more disorders on the DISC‐P, 82 children (15.8%) reported one or more disorders on the DISC‐C, and 18.3% of children were reported to have a disorder on either the DISC‐C or the DISC‐P. Parent–child concordance on specific diagnoses was very low (0.6%). The great majority of disorders reported were anxiety disorders, especially simple and social phobias. Conclusions: The combined prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Vietnamese children aged 9–17 was similar to that found among children in Western Australia's general population. Vietnamese children in our study were much more likely to report symptoms of a psychiatric disorder than were their parents.

Representations and coverage of non-English-speaking immigrants and multicultural issues in three major Australian health care publications

“…Five articles provided descriptive information on African or refugee medical and physical health derived from on-arrival screening or related services [30-34]; three discussed Vitamin D deficiency in veiled and dark-skinned women and their babies [35-37]; five were concerned with the mental health of refugees [15,38-41]; one with iron depletion in Arabic-speaking toddlers [42]; one examined the hospital utilisation of refugees based on their source country [43]; one examined the differential access rights of Temporary Permit Visa holders, as compared with refugees [44]; one studied the primary care utilisation patterns of 341 asylum seekers in Melbourne [45]; one studied the effectiveness of outpatient malarial treatment with African refugees [46]; one looked at the barriers to healthcare access for newly arrived African refugees [47]; one studied shared antenatal care by women of non-English speaking backgrounds [16]; and one studied the positive relationship between intravenous drug use and Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Indochinese communities [48]. …”

Prevalence of DSM-IV TR Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Adolescents of Pave, a Western City of Iran

“…In a recent study in an eastern city of China, the estimated prevalence of behavioral problems was 10.5% based on the cutoff point for behavioral problems according to the CBCL (14). In Vietnam, the most commonly reported problem in children and adolescents was anxiety disorders, especially simple and social phobias (15). In a national study on the lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders among American adolescents the most common disorders were anxiety disorders (31.9%), behavioral disorders (19.1%), mood disorders (11.3%), and substance abuse disorders, respectively (16).…”

Better mental health in children of Vietnamese refugees compared with their Norwegian peers - a matter of cultural difference?

“…Analyses of the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) data in a population-based survey of mental health problems in Vietnamese children in Hanoi [5] showed that the Vietnamese children had lower scores than the US norms for this test, with only half as many scoring in the clinical range. Their result is consistent with our findings.…”