Stability of Mental Disorder Prevalence Estimates Among School-aged Children and Adolescents: Findings from the Community-based Project to Learn About Youth-mental Health (PLAY-MH) and Replication-PLAY-MH (Re-PLAY-MH), 2014-2017

Overview

Journal Ann Epidemiol

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty Public Health

Date 2022 Jun 6

PMID 35661706

Authors

Valentine Wanga

Melissa L Danielson

Rebecca H Bitsko

Joseph R Holbrook

Corey Lipton

Angelika H Claussen

E Rebekah Siceloff

Kate Flory

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: This study evaluated the stability over time of prevalence estimates of mental disorders among school-aged children from the same community.

Methods: We compared screening status and weighted prevalence of selected mental disorders from the two-stage school-based South Carolina Project to Learn About Youth-Mental Health (Time 1) and its replication study (Time 2) conducted between 2014 and 2017. During stage 1, two teacher screeners were used to group students into high or low risk for a mental disorder. During stage 2, parents of selected students completed a structured diagnostic interview to assess whether their child met criteria for specific disorders.

Results: For stage 1, 19.9% of students screened as high risk for a mental disorder at Time 2 compared to 17.8% at Time 1. Among students included at both timepoints, 9.1% screened as high risk at both timepoints while screening status changed for 20.7%. The overall prevalence of included mental disorders was approximately 18% at both time points There were no differences (P-values >.05) in prevalence of individual mental disorders between Time 1 (range:0.3%-6.7%) and Time 2 (range:1.2%-7.7%).

Conclusions: Study findings demonstrate that similar methodology yielded similar prevalence estimates of mental disorders and can inform community-level planning for improving mental health in children.

Citing Articles

The Utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in Predicting Mental Disorders in the Project to Learn About Youth-Mental Health.

Danielson M, Kassab H, Lee M, Owens J, Evans S, Lipton C Psychol Sch. 2023; 60(7):2320-2341.

PMID: 37970221 PMC: 10642258. DOI: 10.1002/pits.22856.

Surveillance of ADHD Among Children in the United States: Validity and Reliability of Parent Report of Provider Diagnosis.

Cree R, Bitsko R, Danielson M, Wanga V, Holbrook J, Flory K J Atten Disord. 2022; 27(2):111-123.

PMID: 36326292 PMC: 9843610. DOI: 10.1177/10870547221131979.

References

Roberts R, Roberts C, Xing Y . Prevalence of youth-reported DSM-IV psychiatric disorders among African, European, and Mexican American adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2006; 45(11):1329-1337. DOI: 10.1097/01.chi.0000235076.25038.81. View

Murphy J, Abel M, Hoover S, Jellinek M, Fazel M . Scope, Scale, and Dose of the World's Largest School-Based Mental Health Programs. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2017; 25(5):218-228. DOI: 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000149. View

Perou R, Bitsko R, Blumberg S, Pastor P, Ghandour R, Gfroerer J . Mental health surveillance among children--United States, 2005-2011. MMWR Suppl. 2013; 62(2):1-35. View

Merikangas K, Nakamura E, Kessler R . Epidemiology of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2009; 11(1):7-20. PMC: 2807642. View

Roberts R, Roberts C, Xing Y . Rates of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders among adolescents in a large metropolitan area. J Psychiatr Res. 2006; 41(11):959-67. PMC: 2736593. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2006.09.006. View

Holbrook J, Cuffe S, Cai B, Visser S, Forthofer M, Bottai M . Persistence of Parent-Reported ADHD Symptoms From Childhood Through Adolescence in a Community Sample. J Atten Disord. 2014; 20(1):11-20. PMC: 4474771. DOI: 10.1177/1087054714539997. View

Gardner W, Bevans K, Kelleher K . The Potential for Improving the Population Health Effectiveness of Screening: A Simulation Study. Pediatrics. 2021; 148(Suppl 1):s3-s10. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2021-050693C. View

Whitney D, Peterson M . US National and State-Level Prevalence of Mental Health Disorders and Disparities of Mental Health Care Use in Children. JAMA Pediatr. 2019; 173(4):389-391. PMC: 6450272. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.5399. View

Kieling C, Baker-Henningham H, Belfer M, Conti G, Ertem I, Omigbodun O . Child and adolescent mental health worldwide: evidence for action. Lancet. 2011; 378(9801):1515-25. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60827-1. View

10.

Angold A, Erkanli A, Farmer E, Fairbank J, Burns B, Keeler G . Psychiatric disorder, impairment, and service use in rural African American and white youth. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2002; 59(10):893-901. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.59.10.893. View

11.

Barican J, Yung D, Schwartz C, Zheng Y, Georgiades K, Waddell C . Prevalence of childhood mental disorders in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis to inform policymaking. Evid Based Ment Health. 2021; 25(1):36-44. PMC: 8788041. DOI: 10.1136/ebmental-2021-300277. View

12.

Carter A, Wagmiller R, Gray S, McCarthy K, Horwitz S, Briggs-Gowan M . Prevalence of DSM-IV disorder in a representative, healthy birth cohort at school entry: sociodemographic risks and social adaptation. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010; 49(7):686-98. PMC: 3166638. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2010.03.018. View

13.

Anderson J, Ford T, Soneson E, Thompson Coon J, Humphrey A, Rogers M . A systematic review of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of school-based identification of children and young people at risk of, or currently experiencing mental health difficulties. Psychol Med. 2018; 49(1):9-19. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291718002490. View

14.

Danielson M, Bitsko R, Ghandour R, Holbrook J, Kogan M, Blumberg S . Prevalence of Parent-Reported ADHD Diagnosis and Associated Treatment Among U.S. Children and Adolescents, 2016. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2018; 47(2):199-212. PMC: 5834391. DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2017.1417860. View

15.

Ghandour R, Sherman L, Vladutiu C, Ali M, Lynch S, Bitsko R . Prevalence and Treatment of Depression, Anxiety, and Conduct Problems in US Children. J Pediatr. 2018; 206:256-267.e3. PMC: 6673640. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.09.021. View

16.

Merikangas K, He J, Brody D, Fisher P, Bourdon K, Koretz D . Prevalence and treatment of mental disorders among US children in the 2001-2004 NHANES. Pediatrics. 2009; 125(1):75-81. PMC: 2938794. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-2598. View

17.

Du Rietz E, Kuja-Halkola R, Brikell I, Jangmo A, Sariaslan A, Lichtenstein P . Predictive validity of parent- and self-rated ADHD symptoms in adolescence on adverse socioeconomic and health outcomes. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2017; 26(7):857-867. PMC: 5489641. DOI: 10.1007/s00787-017-0957-3. View

18.

Danielson M, Bitsko R, Holbrook J, Charania S, Claussen A, McKeown R . Community-Based Prevalence of Externalizing and Internalizing Disorders among School-Aged Children and Adolescents in Four Geographically Dispersed School Districts in the United States. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2020; 52(3):500-514. PMC: 8016018. DOI: 10.1007/s10578-020-01027-z. View

19.

Robles-Ramamurthy B, Coombs A, Wilson W, Vinson S . Black Children and the Pressing Need for Antiracism in Child Psychiatry. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2020; 60(4):432-434. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.12.007. View

20.

Jensen P, Canino G, BIRD H, Dulcan M, Lahey B . Parent and child contributions to diagnosis of mental disorder: are both informants always necessary?. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1999; 38(12):1569-79. DOI: 10.1097/00004583-199912000-00019. View