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Study Shows Prevelance of Mental Disorders Among American Kids
Filed under: In The News, Expert Advice: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Expert Advice: Big Kids, Expert Advice: Tweens, Expert Advice: Teens
The numbers may seem surprising: A new study finds that about 13 percent of American kids have at least one mental disorder (including ADHD, anxiety, depression, eating disorders and conduct disorder), but only half of those kids are getting treatment.
The researchers found that 8.6 percent of children surveyed had ADHD, 3.7percent had mood disorders, 2.1percent had conduct disorder, 0.7 percent had panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder and 0.1percent had eating disorders. Boys showed a 2.1 times greater prevalence of ADHD than girls, while girls had twofold higher rates of mood disorders than boys. There were no gender differences in the rates of anxiety or conduct disorders.
This study of mental disorders among U.S. children was recently published in the journal Pediatrics. It analyzed data from psychological diagnoses of 3,042 participants (8 to 15 years of age) from surveys conducted from 2001 to 2004. The data was derived through structured diagnostic interviews done by lay interviewers -- not by psychologists -- to assess psychiatric diagnoses of children and adolescents.
The study concludes that "these data constitute a first step in building a national database on mental health in children and adolescents."
It can be puzzling for parents to know just what this data means. Are large numbers of American kids in need of mental help, with many more than we realize in need of diagnosis? Or are we still defining the boundaries that separate some mental disorders from the developmental challenges of childhood?
Related: Michael Phelps' Mom Talks About ADHD, Behavior Therapy for ADHD
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-06-2010 @ 5:00PM
csogkal said...Our children have more mental disorders because too many parents are too busy to discipline their children and feel it's easier to medicate them. It's the same reason we're such an overweight country, parental laziness. Idiots
Reply
1-07-2010 @ 6:57PM
LillieFaerie said...I am not so certain that the US has any more mental disorders than the rest of the world, but I could say that the Us is studied more, perhaps,,or that differences in other societies simply will not recognize some disorders as disorders.
1-06-2010 @ 8:03PM
silverspirit93 said...No duhh. People came to America from all over the world; bringing their specific country's disorders with them. It's not meant to be derogatory, just common sense; I'm sure different disorders most affected certain groups of people in certain country's. When people of so many different ethnicity start to mix together, those disorders will eventually pile up too.
Reply
1-07-2010 @ 8:45AM
Kat said...Never heard anthing as stupid as this!
1-07-2010 @ 1:39PM
Kimra said...this is a bunch bull...there is nothing wrong with our children...add and adhd can be solved by fixing a child's nutrition and usually is caused by a food allergy...these articles are written so te psych industry and med industry can get our children addicted to medications...yay! lets shove med down our kids throats so they can be drug addicts their entire life and the pharmacuetical industry can keep making billions off our poor addicted children...psych meds are bad www.cchr.org
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1-07-2010 @ 2:58AM
alurathbone said...My Mom was told that my sister had ADHD by her teachers... and the doctor said that she did not. The doctor recommended organized sports. So we signed my sister up for Gymnastics... guess what... the teachers stopped saying that my sister had ADHD...
Most of the time it's the lack of something stimulating...
Reply
3-02-2010 @ 3:23PM
Leigh said...Well, I truely wish it was all so easy. My son struggled from 1st through 8th grade with complulsive behavior and disorganization. No amount of discipline, punishment or extra activities helped. He was a bright, kind hearted child that was just trying to please everyone but never knowing how to get there. ONE day on Vyvanse (and every school day since) has turned his life around. His talents and energy are channelled to the right tasks. Life is great for him now at 16!
My high-achieving, talented, creative, funny, perfect, beautiful 18yo daughter went to college in August and came home in a highly destructive manic episode requiring 8 days hospitalization. This is the last girl you would ever think would go through something like this. As her mom, I can say that there was def. something MEDICAL wrong with her. Her step-sister texted me 3wks earlier that she was acting really strange. Doctors were and still are very hesitant to label her bipolar, however my instincts are telling me thats what it is. Its a CHEMICAL imbalance.
My point is....you can't help these disorders. Those who use it as an excuse for being mean are not really bipolar. I used to think the same thing until it happened to my child.
Happy to say she went back to college, completed the unfinished first semester and is now, on medication, getting a 4.0.
Try to not be so judgemental until it has happened to you or someone you love.
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