Childhood Predictors of Psychiatric Disorders Among Boys: A Prospective Community-Based Follow-up Study From Age 8 Years to Early Adulthood

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ABSTRACT

Objective

To study early childhood predictors for early adulthood psychiatric disorders.

Method

The sample included 2,712 Finnish boys born in 1981. Information about the 8-year-old boys' problem behavior was obtained from parents, teachers, and children. The 10-15-year follow-up information about psychiatric disorders in early adulthood was based on the national military register between the years 1999 and 2004.

Results

According to the military register, 10.4% of men had a psychiatric disorder. All informant sources, parents, teachers, and the children themselves predicted early adulthood psychiatric disorders. Conduct symptoms at age 8 independently predicted substance abuse, antisocial personality, and psychotic disorders in early adulthood. Self-reported depressive symptoms, poor school performance, and living in a nonintact family had an independent predictive association with antisocial personality and depressive disorders. Parent-reported emotional symptoms and self-reported psychosomatic symptoms independently predicted anxiety disorders. About one third of those who had used services at age 8 had a psychiatric disorder in early adulthood. Among service users, conduct and hyperkinetic symptoms predicted psychiatric disorders in early adulthood.

Conclusions

Efforts to prevent early adult psychiatric disturbance already present in childhood are emphasized. Active screening to detect children in need of early interventions in childhood to prevent negative development in early adulthood is justified.

Section snippets

METHOD

This investigation is part of the nationwide “From Boy to Man” study, a 15-year follow-up study included in the Epidemiological Multicenter Child Psychiatric Study in Finland (Almqvist et al., 1999; Sourander et al., 2004a). The research plan was approved by the Joint Commission on Ethics of Turku University and Turku University Central Hospital. The first assessment was conducted in October and November 1989. Informed consent was obtained from the children's parents at baseline and from the

Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders

Table 1 shows the descriptive characteristics of the categorical explanatory variables when the child was 8 years old, and prevalences of psychiatric disorder groups in early adulthood, based on information from the military register at three time points. Taken together, 10.4% (283/2712) of men had a psychiatric disorder when information from three time points was pooled. According to health examinations at military call-up in 1999, 5.7% of men were recognized as having an ICD-10 psychiatric

DISCUSSION

About 10.4% of boys received a psychiatric diagnosis in early adulthood according to the military register. Children who have a psychiatric disorder in early adulthood are likely to have a higher level of emotional and behavioral problems and impairment than those who can be considered normal in early adulthood. For early screening purposes, it is important to know that all three informants, parents, teachers, and children, of a child's problems at age 8 predict later outcome.

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    • Cited by (0)

    This study was supported by the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, Finnish Defense Forces (MATINE), Finnish Pediatric Research Foundation, and Signe and Arne Gyllenberg Foundation.

    Disclosure: The authors have no financial relationships to disclose.

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    Copyright © 2005 The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.