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The prevalence of mental disorders in school‐age children attending a general paediatric department in southern India
Author(s) -
Chandra R.,
Srinivasan S.,
Chandrasekaran R.,
Mahadevan S.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1993.tb03355.x
Subject(s) - stressor , socioeconomic status , medicine , psychiatry , mental health , pediatrics , population , environmental health
This study was conducted over a period of 18 months in a medical college hospital in southern India. Of 313 children of age 5 and above referred for detailed psychiatric evaluation, 101 were found to have a mental disorder according to DSM‐III‐R criteria; the remaining had organic disorders. Children above 8 years (74%) registered higher morbidity. There was no sex difference in overall morbidity. Precipitating factors were discernible in half of these cases, of which school‐related problems were found in the majority. Almost two‐thirds had multiple stressors, of which chronic family and social adversity (39%) and learning disabilities (28%) were common. Mental disorders were significantly related to urban background, middle‐class socioeconomic status and literate parents compared with age‐ and sex‐matched controls. There was no significant relationship with the type of family and number of siblings. Conversion disorder (31%) was the commonest, followed by conduct disorders (16%). The symptoms, stressors, response to treatment and the transcultural aspects are also discussed.