Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
ARTICLESPsychiatric Disorders in Norwegian 8- to 10-Year-Olds: An Epidemiological Survey of Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Service Use
Section snippets
Sample
The target population of the Bergen Child Study of mental health (BCS) consisted of all children in the city of Bergen, Norway, attending primary school grades 2 to 4 (7-9 years of age) in the fall of 2002. The total number of children attending these grades was 9,430. It is not considered appropriate to ask about race or ethnicity in Norway, but the population is predominantly white. In 2002 6.4% of the Norwegian population were immigrants, and 66% were from non-Western countries. In the
Parent Response Bias
Whereas 97% of the target population was assessed by teacher questionnaires, only two thirds of these children's parents also completed questionnaires. Comparing the 6,297 children having questionnaire data from both informants with the 2,858 children with teacher data only, the latter group had significantly higher levels of teacher-reported psychopathology (mean teacher SDQ total score 5.37 [SD 5.4] versus 4.13 [SD 4.8]; t = 10.56, df = 9,153, p <.001). Allowing for this effect, there was no
Overall Prevalence
This first Nordic large-scale survey of DSM-IV and ICD-10 disorders in a child population suggests an overall prevalence of mental disorders of about 7%. Although this is at the lower end of the range compared with studies from other parts of the world, it is in no way unique. A prospective population survey from North Carolina reported a prevalence of 6.8% for DSM-IV disorders in 9- to 16-year-olds, when ‘significant functional impairment’ was required for diagnosis (Costello et al., 2003).
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The study was supported by the City of Bergen, the Research Council of Norway, the Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs, Western Norway Regional Health Authority, Haukeland University Hospital, Unifob Health, and the Meltzer legacy. The authors thank the children, parents, and teachers for their participation and Unni Ljosdal, Anja Haaland, Rannveig Naerland, Hilde-Gunn Bruu, Bjarte Sanne, and Tore Wentzel-Larsen for their help in the study.