Sonya Sterba1, Helen L Egger, Adrian Angold. 1. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA. ssterba@email.unc.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The appropriateness of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) nosology for classifying preschool mental health disturbances continues to be debated. To inform this debate, we investigate whether preschool psychopathology shows differentiation along diagnostically specific lines when DSM-IV symptoms are aggregated statistically. METHODS: One thousand seventy-three parents of preschoolers aged 2-5 years attending a large pediatric clinic completed the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5. A stratified probability sample of 193 parents of high scorers and 114 parents of low scorers were interviewed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA). Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on symptoms from seven DSM disorders. RESULTS: Comparison of competing models supported the differentiation of emotional syndromes into three factors: social phobia (SOC), separation anxiety (SAD), and depression/generalized anxiety (MDD/GAD), and the differentiation of disruptive syndromes into three factors: oppositional defiant/conduct syndrome (ODD/CD), hyperactivity/impulsivity, and inattention. Latent syndrome correlations were moderately high after accounting for symptom overlap and measurement error. CONCLUSIONS: Psychopathology appears to be differentiated among preschoolers much as it is among older children, and adolescents. We conclude that it is as reasonable to apply the DSM-IV nosology to preschoolers as it is to apply it to older individuals.
BACKGROUND: The appropriateness of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) nosology for classifying preschool mental health disturbances continues to be debated. To inform this debate, we investigate whether preschool psychopathology shows differentiation along diagnostically specific lines when DSM-IV symptoms are aggregated statistically. METHODS: One thousand seventy-three parents of preschoolers aged 2-5 years attending a large pediatric clinic completed the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5. A stratified probability sample of 193 parents of high scorers and 114 parents of low scorers were interviewed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA). Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on symptoms from seven DSM disorders. RESULTS: Comparison of competing models supported the differentiation of emotional syndromes into three factors: social phobia (SOC), separation anxiety (SAD), and depression/generalized anxiety (MDD/GAD), and the differentiation of disruptive syndromes into three factors: oppositional defiant/conduct syndrome (ODD/CD), hyperactivity/impulsivity, and inattention. Latent syndrome correlations were moderately high after accounting for symptom overlap and measurement error. CONCLUSIONS: Psychopathology appears to be differentiated among preschoolers much as it is among older children, and adolescents. We conclude that it is as reasonable to apply the DSM-IV nosology to preschoolers as it is to apply it to older individuals.
Authors: C A Hartman; J Hox; G J Mellenbergh; M H Boyle; D R Offord; Y Racine; J McNamee; K D Gadow; J Sprafkin; K L Kelly; E E Nolan; R Tannock; R Schachar; H Schut; I Postma; R Drost; J A Sergeant Journal: J Child Psychol Psychiatry Date: 2001-09 Impact factor: 8.982
Authors: Helen Link Egger; Alaattin Erkanli; Gordon Keeler; Edward Potts; Barbara Keith Walter; Adrian Angold Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2006-05 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Joan L Luby; Amy K Heffelfinger; Christine Mrakotsky; Kathy M Brown; Martha J Hessler; Jeffrey M Wallis; Edward L Spitznagel Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2003-03 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Jennifer Strickland; Jennifer Keller; John V Lavigne; Karen Gouze; Joyce Hopkins; Susan LeBailly Journal: J Abnorm Child Psychol Date: 2011-05
Authors: Maartje M G J Basten; Robert R Althoff; Henning Tiemeier; Vincent W V Jaddoe; Albert Hofman; James J Hudziak; Frank C Verhulst; Jan van der Ende Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2013-06-22 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Boris Birmaher; David Axelson; Benjamin Goldstein; Kelly Monk; Catherine Kalas; Mihaela Obreja; Mary Beth Hickey; Satish Iyengar; David Brent; Wael Shamseddeen; Rasim Diler; David Kupfer Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2010-01-15 Impact factor: 18.112
Authors: Nissa R Towe-Goodman; Lauren Franz; William Copeland; Adrian Angold; Helen Egger Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2014-01-13 Impact factor: 8.829