Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:40:05.111Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychiatric Disorders in Mildly and Severely Mentally Retarded Urban Children and Adolescents: Epidemiological Aspects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Christopher Gillberg ,
Eva Persson ,
Marianne Grufman  and
Ulla Themnér
Christopher Gillberg*
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Youth Psychiatry, University of Göteborg, Box 7284, S-402 35 Göteborg, Sweden
Eva Persson
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Youth Psychiatry, University of Göteborg, Box 7284, S-402 35 Göteborg, Sweden
Marianne Grufman
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Youth Psychiatry, University of Göteborg, Box 7284, S-402 35 Göteborg, Sweden
Ulla Themnér
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Youth Psychiatry, University of Göteborg, Box 7284, S-402 35 Göteborg, Sweden
*
∗Correspondence.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A total of 149 children aged 13–17 years were examined. 83 were mildly and 66 severely mentally retarded. These children, especially the severely retarded ones, are representative of all mentally retarded children born in 1966–1970 and living in Göteborg, Sweden. 64% of the severely mentally retarded and 57% of the mildly mentally retarded children were suffering from a handicapping psychiatric condition. Autism-like ‘psychotic behaviour’ was common in the severely retarded. 0.2% of the total child population aged 13–17 years suffering from the combination of mental retardation and ‘psychotic behaviour’. Epilepsy was associated with psychiatric abnormality, but Down's syndrome was generally not so associated.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 149 , Issue 1 , July 1986 , pp. 68 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1980) DSM-III. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Ed. Washington DC: APA.Google Scholar
Corbett, J., Harris, R. & Robinson, R. (1975) Epilepsy In Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities: (ed. Wortis, J.), VII, New York: Brunner Mazel.Google Scholar
Corbett, J., Harris, R. & Robinson, R. (1981) Epilepsy and mental retardation In Epilepsy and Psychiatry (eds. Reynolds, E. J. & Trimble, M. R.), London: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Corbett, J., Harris, R. & Robinson, R. (1985) Mental retardation: psychiatric aspects In Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Modern Approaches (eds. Rutter, M. & Hersov, L.), 2nd Ed., Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Gillberg, C. & Höök, K. (1977) Child and youth psychiatric emergencies in Göteborg, Sweden. Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift, 7, 401–408 (in Swedish).Google Scholar
Gillberg, C. C., Svenson, B., Carlström, G., Rasmussen, P. & Waldenström, E. (1983) Mental retardation in Swedish urban children. Some epidemiological considerations. Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 4, 207–218.Google Scholar
Gillberg, C. (1983) Perceptual, motor and attentional deficits in Swedish primary school-children. Some child psychiatric aspects. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24, 377–403.Google Scholar
Gillberg, C. (1984) Infantile autism and other childhood psychoses in a Swedish urban region. Epidemiological aspects. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 25, 35–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, N. & Tizard, J. (1962) Prevalence of imbecility and idiocy among children. British Medical Journal, 216–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gustavson, K-G., Hagberg, B., Hagberg, G. & Sars, K. (1977) Severe mental retardation in a Swedish county. I. Epidemiology, gestational age, birth weight and associated CNS handicaps in children bom 1959–1970. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica, 66, 373–379.Google Scholar
Hagberg, B., Hagberg, G., Lewerth, A. & Lindberg, U. (1981a) Mild mental retardation in Swedish children. I. Prevalence. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica, 70, 441–444.Google Scholar
Gustavson, K-G., Hagberg, B., Hagberg, G. & Sars, K. (1981b) Mild mental retardation in Swedish school children. II. Etiologic and pathologic aspects. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica, 70, 445–452.Google Scholar
Lewis, E. O. (1929) Report of the menial deficiency committee. Part IV. Report of an investigation into the incidence of mental deficiency in 6 areas, 1925–1927. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Peckham, C. (1974) National child development study (1958 cohort). Personal communication.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, A. H. (1980) Psychiatric disorders in mentally handicapped children: a clinical and follow-up study. Journal of Mental Deficiency Research, 24, 287–298.Google ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Graham, P. & Yule, W. (1970) A neuropsychiatric study in childhood. Clinics in Developmental Medicine. London: SIMP with Heinemann Medical.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Graham, P. & Yule, W. (1975) Why are London children so disturbed? Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 66, 1221–1225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M., Shaffer, D. & Shepherd, M. (1975) A Multiaxial Classification of Child Psychiatric Disorders. Oxford: Black well Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Tizard, J. & Whitmore, K. (eds.) Evaluating, Health and Behaviour. London: Longmans.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J., Robins, E., Kuriansky, J. & Gurland, B. (1975) A preliminary report of the reliability of research diagnostic criteria In Predictability in Psychopharmacology: Preclinical and Clinical Correlations. London: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Tizard, J. (1966) Epidemiology of mental retardation. International Journal of Psychiatry, 2, 131.Google Scholar
Wing, L. & Gould, J. (1979) Severe impairments of social interaction and associated abnormalities in children: epidemiology and classification. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 9, 11–29.Google Scholar
Wing, L. & Gould, J. (1981) Asperger's syndrome: a clinical account. Psychological Medicine, 11, 115–129.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.