Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a Brazilian birth cohort of 11-year-olds

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To estimate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in preadolescents aged 11–12 years from a birth cohort in a southern Brazilian city.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional investigation nested in a cohort study with a two-phase design: screening and diagnosis. In the screening phase, 4,452 preadolescents and their mothers were interviewed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). In the diagnostic phase, all preadolescents with a positive SDQ (n = 122) and their mothers answered the Development and Well-Being Assessment for Children and Adolescents (DAWBA). A sample randomly selected among the cohort participants with a negative SDQ served as a control group (158 subjects and their mothers) and was also assessed using the DAWBA.

Results

After adjustment for the performance of the screening instrument, 10.8% (95% CI 7.1–14.5) of the preadolescents showed at least one psychiatric disorder according to either the DSM-IV or the ICD-10. The most prevalent disorders were disruptive behavior (prevalence rates were 8.5% according to the DSM-IV and 7.1% according to the ICD-10) and anxiety disorders (prevalence rates were 6.0% according to the DSM-IV and 6.2% according to the ICD-10).

Conclusion

Both overall and individual prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders found in this study are in the same range of other international studies, although slightly higher than findings from developed countries. The results corroborate previous findings from other epidemiological studies in children and adolescents suggesting the universality of psychiatric disorders across cultures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Almeida Filho N (1982) Estudo de prevalência de desordens mentais na infância em zona urbana de Salvador, Bahia. J Bras Psiquiatria 31:129–137

    Google Scholar 

  2. Andreoli SB, Almeida Filho N, Coutinho ESF, Mari JJ (2000) Psychiatric cases identification by multi steps epidemiological studies: methods, problems and applicability. Revista de Saúde Pública 34(5):475–483

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. APA (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder, DSM-IV, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  4. Belfer ML, Rohde LA (2005) Child and adolescent mental health in Latin America and the Caribbean: problems, progress and policy research. Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica 18(4–5):359–365

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bilenberg N, Petersen DJ, Hoerder K, Gillberg C (2005) The prevalence of child-psychiatric disorders among 8–9-year-old children in Danish mainstream schools. Acta Psychiatr Scand 111:59–67

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Canino G, Shrout PE, Rubio-Stipec M, Bird HR, Bravo M, Ramirez R, Chavez L, Alegria M, Bauermeister JJ, Hohmann A, Ribera J, Garcia P, Martinez-Taboas A (2004) The DSM-IV rates of child and adolescent disorders in Puerto Rico: prevalence, correlates, service use, and the effects of impairment. Arch Gen Psychiatry 61:85–93

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Costello EJ, Mustillo S, Erkanli A, Keeler G, Angold A (2003) Prevalence and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. Arch Gen Psychiatry 60:837–844

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ, Lynskey MT (1993) Prevalence and comorbidity of DSM-III-R diagnoses in a birth cohort of 15 year olds. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 32:1127–1134

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Fleiss JL (1981) The control of misclassification error. Statistical methods for rates and proportions. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  10. Fleitlich-Bilyk B, Goodman R (2004) Prevalence of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders in southeast Brazil. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 43:727–734

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Ford T, Goodman R, Meltzer H (2003) The British child and adolescent mental health survey 1999: the prevalence of DSM-IV disorders. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 42:1203–1211

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Frigerio A, Vanzin L, Pastore V, Nobile M, Giorda R, Marino C, Molteni M, Rucci P, Ammaniti M, Lucarelli L, Lenti C, Walder M, Martinuzzi A, Carlet O, Muratori F, Milone A, Zuddas A, Cavolina P, Nardocci F, Tullini A, Morosini P, Polidori G, De Girolamo G (2006) The Italian preadolescent mental health project (PrISMA): rationale and methods. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 15:22–35

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Goodman R (2001) Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40:1337–1345

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Goodman R, Ford T, Richards H, Gatward R, Meltzer H (2000) The development and well-being assessment: description and initial validation of an integrated assessment of child and adolescent psychopathology. J Child Psychol Psychiatry Allied Disciplines 41:645–655

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Goodman R, Neves dos Santos D, Robatto Nunes AP, Pereira de Miranda D, Fleitlich-Bilyk B, Almeida Filho N (2005) The Ilha de Mare study: a survey of child mental health problems in a predominantly African-Brazilian rural community. Social Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:11–17

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Goodman R, Scott S (2005) Child psychiatry. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  17. Goodman R, Slobodskaya H, Knyazev G (2005) Russian child mental health-a cross-sectional study of prevalence and risk factors. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 14:28–33

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Gordon M, Antshel K, Faraone S, Barkley R, Lewandowski L, Hudziak J, Biederman J, Cunningham C (2006) Symptoms versus impairment: the case for respecting DSM-IV’s Criterion D. J Attent Disorders 9:465–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hackett R, Hackett L, Bhakta P, Gowers S (1999) The prevalence and associations of psychiatric disorder in children in Kerala, South India. J Child Psychol Psychiatry Allied Disciplines 40:801–807

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Heiervang E, Stormark KM, Lundervold AJ, Heimann M, Goodman R, Posserud MB, Ullebo AK, Plessen KJ, Bjelland I, Lie SA, Gillberg C (2007) Psychiatric disorders in Norwegian 8- to 10-year-olds: an epidemiological survey of prevalence, risk factors, and service use. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 46:438–447

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Mullick MS, Goodman R (2005) The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among 5–10 year olds in rural, urban and slum areas in Bangladesh: an exploratory study. Social Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:663–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Polanczyk G, de Lima MS, Horta BL, Biederman J, Rohde LA (2007) The worldwide prevalence of ADHD: a systematic review and metaregression analysis. Am J Psychiatry 164:942–948

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Roberts RE, Attkisson CC, Rosenblatt A (1998) Prevalence of psychopathology among children and adolescents. Am J Psychiatry 155:715–725

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Rohde LA (2002) ADHD in Brazil: the DSM-IV criteria in a culturally different population. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 41:1131–1133

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Rohde LA (2008) Is there a need to reformulate attention deficit hyperactivity disorder criteria in future nosologic classifications? Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 17:405–420

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Rohde LA, Biederman J, Busnello EA, Zimmermann H, Schmitz M, Martins S, Tramontina S (1999) ADHD in a school sample of Brazilian adolescents: a study of prevalence, comorbid conditions, and impairments. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 38:716–722

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Rohde LA, Szobot C, Polanczyk G, Schmitz M, Martins S, Tramontina S (2005) Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a diverse culture: do research and clinical findings support the notion of a cultural construct for the disorder? Biol Psychiatry 57:1436–1441

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Srinath S, Girimaji SC, Gururaj G, Seshadri S, Subbakrishna DK, Bhola P, Kumar N (2005) Epidemiological study of child & adolescent psychiatric disorders in urban & rural areas of Bangalore, India. Indian J Med Res 122:67–79

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Victora CG, Hallal PC, Araujo CL, Menezes AM, Wells JCK, Barros FC (2008) Cohort profile: the 1993 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study. Int J Epidemiol 37:704–709

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Waiselfisz J (2006) Relatório de desenvolvimento juvenil. Organização dos Estados Íbero-Americanos para a Educação, a Ciência e a Cultura, Brasília

    Google Scholar 

  31. WHO (1993) The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioral disorders: diagnostic criteria for research. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Prof. Sérgio Baxter Andreoli for statistical guidance.

The cohort is currently supported by the Wellcome Trust initiative entitled Major Awards for Latin America on Health Consequences of Populations Change. Earlier phases of the 1993 cohort study were funded by the European Union, the National Program for Centers of Excellence (Brazil), the National Research Council (Brazil) and the Brazilian Department of Health. LA had a doctoral scholarship from CAPES [Coordination and Improvement of Higher Level Personnel], Brazil, through the Graduate Program in Psychiatry/UFRGS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Post-Graduate Program in Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Luciana Anselmi

  2. Post-Graduate Program in Epidemiology, UFPEL, Federal University of Pelotas, Mal Deodoro, 1160, Pelotas, RS, CEP 96020-220, Brazil

    Luciana Anselmi, Ana Maria B. Menezes & Cora L. Araújo

  3. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Division, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Bacy Fleitlich-Bilyk

  4. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Division, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Luis A. Rohde

Authors
  1. Luciana Anselmi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bacy Fleitlich-Bilyk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ana Maria B. Menezes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cora L. Araújo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Luis A. Rohde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luciana Anselmi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Anselmi, L., Fleitlich-Bilyk, B., Menezes, A.M.B. et al. Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a Brazilian birth cohort of 11-year-olds. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 45, 135–142 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0052-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0052-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation