Diagnostic trajectories of mental disorders in children and adolescents: a cohort study
File(s)Manuscript - revised version 29.05.2023.docx (2.3 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Girela-Serrano, Braulio
Miguélez-Fernández, Carolina
Abascal-Peiró, Sofía
Peñuelas-Calvo, Inmaculada
Jiménez-Muñoz, Laura
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Mental disorders in children and adolescents may follow different trajectories, such as remission, change of diagnosis, or addition of two or more comorbid diagnoses, showing a heterotypic pattern. This study aims to describe the main diagnostic trajectories across a broad range of mental disorder diagnostic categories, from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to young adulthood in a clinical population. A prospective study was conducted among a clinical sample of children and adolescents who were aged 3-17 years at the face-to-face baseline interview. Electronic health records of these participants were reviewed 10 years later. The diagnostic stability over time was examined using the kappa coefficient, and factors associated with stability were explored using simple logistic regression. The study included a sample of 691 participants. The kappa coefficient for diagnostic stability across all diagnoses was 0.574 for the transition from childhood to adulthood, 0.614 from childhood to adolescence, and 0.733 from adolescence to adulthood. Neurodevelopmental diagnoses had the highest stability. Factors associated with higher diagnostic stability included family history of mental disorders, receiving psychopharmacological treatment, and symptom severity at baseline. We found a variable diagnostic stability across different diagnoses and age categories. The different life transitions represent complex periods that should not be overlooked from a clinical standpoint. An appropriate transition from child and adolescent mental health services to adult mental health services may have a positive impact on children and adolescents with mental disorders.
Date Issued
2024-05
Date Acceptance
2023-06-23
Citation
European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: official journal of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2024, 33 (5), pp.1481-1494
ISSN
1018-8827
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
1481
End Page
1494
Journal / Book Title
European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: official journal of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Volume
33
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2023 Springer-Verlag. This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02254-0
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37422547
Subjects
Adolescents
Children
Diagnosis
Mental health
Neurodevelopmental disorders
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Germany
Date Publish Online
2023-07-08