Objective To present estimates of the lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV mental disorders with and without severe impairment, their comorbidity across broad classes of disorder, and their sociodemographic correlates. Method The National Comorbidity Survey–Adolescent Supplement NCS-A is a nationally representative face-to-face survey of 10,123 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years in the continental United States. DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed using a modified version of the fully structured World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results Anxiety disorders were the most common condition (31.9%), followed by behavior disorders (19.1%), mood disorders (14.3%), and substance use disorders (11.4%), with approximately 40% of participants with one class of disorder also meeting criteria for another class of lifetime disorder. The overall prevalence of disorders with severe impairment and/or distress was 22.2% (11.2% with mood disorders, 8.3% with anxiety disorders, and 9.6% behavior disorders). The median age of onset for disorder classes was earliest for anxiety (6 years), followed by 11 years for behavior, 13 years for mood, and 15 years for substance use disorders. Conclusions These findings provide the first prevalence data on a broad range of mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents. Approximately one in every four to five youth in the U.S. meets criteria for a mental disorder with severe impairment across their lifetime. The likelihood that common mental disorders in adults first emerge in childhood and adolescence highlights the need for a transition from the common focus on treatment of U.S. youth to that of prevention and early intervention.

Lifetime Prevalence of Mental Disorders in U.S. Adolescents: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A)

Results: Although 3-month prevalence of any disorder averaged 13.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.7%15.0%), during the study period 36.7% of participants (31% of girls and 42% of boys) had at least 1 psychiatric disorder. Some disorders (social anxiety, panic, depression, and substance abuse) increased in prevalence, whereas others, including separation anxiety disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), decreased. Lagged analyses showed that children with a history of psychiatric disorder were 3 times more likely than those with no previous disorder to have a diagnosis at any subsequent wave (odds ratio, 3.7; 95% CI, 2.94.9; P.001). Risk from a previous diagnosis was high among both girls and boys, but it was significantly higher among girls. Continuity of the same disorder (homotypic) was significant for all disorders except specific phobias. Continuity from one diagnosis to another (heterotypic) was significant from depression to anxiety and anxiety to depression, from ADHD to oppositional defiant disorder, and from anxiety and conduct disorder to substance abuse. Almost all the heterotypic continuity was seen in girls. Conclusions: The risk of having at least 1 psychiatric disorder by age 16 years is much higher than point estimates would suggest. Concurrent comorbidity and homotypic and heterotypic continuity are more marked in girls than in boys.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/articlepdf/207725/YOA20769.pdf

Prevalence and Development of Psychiatric Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence

e w id r as e, se er t st al h r Overweight or obesity in adolescents has reache epidemic proportions in the USA and other industr alized countries. These conditions, although ofte lumped together in research and in commentarie reflect adolescents’ being toward the heavier point a continuum that would range from underweight morbidly obese. The terms may be used interchang ably, but there is no doubt that, in the US a considerable percentage of adolescents suffer fro too much body fat. The prevalence of obesity (bod mass index [BMI] >95th percentile) among adole cents aged 12–19 years is now one in six (17.6%); an one in three (34.9%) US adolescents are overweight obese (BMI>85th percentile) (Story et al. 2009). Oth industrialized countries, such as Canada, Japa Germany, and China also are beginning to experien increasing problems related to obesity (Cornette 2008 Being on the overweight side of the weight continuu means being afflicted with a serious, chronic disea that can cause substantial harm to adolescents’ curre and future health. Although terms may be used loosely, individua only are formally deemed obese by physicians. The are some rules of thumb and formulas that often a used, especially in social science studies, but physician diagnose whether adolescents are obese. Discussion measurements tends to focus on that diagnos A diagnosis of obesity typically involves using a bod mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of weight propo tionate to height, which is deemed a useful measure the amount of body fat. Although there are other mo precise ways to measure excess fat, experts now recom mend using BMI because it is easily obtained, strong

Obesity and Overweight

Background Various studies find relationships among anxiety and depressive disorders of adolescence and adulthood. This study prospectively examines the magnitude of longitudinal associations between adolescent and adult anxiety or depressive disorders. Methods An epidemiologically selected sample of 776 young people living in upstate New York received DSM -based psychiatric assessments in 1983, 1985, and 1992 using structured interviews. The magnitude of the association between adolescent and adult anxiety or depressive disorders was quantified using odds ratios generated from logistic regression analyses and from a set of latent Markov analyses. We focus on longitudinal associations among narrowly defined DSM anxiety or depressive disorders. Results In simple logistic models, adolescent anxiety or depressive disorders predicted an approximate 2- to 3−fold increased risk for adulthood anxiety or depressive disorders. There was evidence of specificity in the course of simple and social phobia but less specificity in the course of other disorders. Results from the analyses using latent variables suggested that while most adolescent disorders were no longer present in young adulthood, most adult disorders were preceded by adolescent disorders. Conclusions An anxiety or depressive disorder during adolescence confers a strong risk for recurrent anxiety or depressive disorders during early adulthood. Most anxiety and depressive disorders in young adults may be preceded by anxiety or depression in adolescence.

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The risk for early-adulthood anxiety and depressive disorders in adolescents with anxiety and depressive disorders.

https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/1905528/Farone%20World%20Psychiatry%202(2)%202003%20u.pdf

The worldwide prevalence of ADHD: is it an American condition?

Developmental aspects of psychiatric disorders may be inferred from patterns of age differences in prevalence. Age-specific prevalences are provided for nine disorders in a general population sample of ages 10-20. Age and gender patterns for several disorders suggest developmental stage-associated risks. These include oppositional disorder in both genders and conduct disorder and major depression in girls. Major depression shows a pattern suggestive of a role for the onset of puberty. The prevalence of one or more disorders did not differ by age or gender. However, the pattern of specific diagnoses varied greatly by both age and gender.

E. L. Streuning

Papers

An Epidemiological Study of Disorders in Late Childhood and Adolescence—I. Age‐ and Gender‐Specific Prevalence