Psychosocial functioning and psychiatric comorbidity among substance-abusing Icelandic adolescents

Our objectives were to compare behaviour problem scores (BPS) for Icelandic adolescents admitted for detoxification treatment for alcohol and narcotic abuse as compared with the general population, in accordance with the Youth Self Report (YSR), and to describe psychosocial functioning and psychiatric comorbidity for the treated adolescents. The case series consisted of 103 adolescents, ages 12-18 years, who completed the YSR at the end of a 10-day stay at the National Hospital of Addiction Medicine. The total BPS tallied from the YSR items was compared with scores for the general population. The psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial functioning of the case series were assessed through diagnostic interviews in accordance with DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria. The BPS for the 36 treated girls was significantly higher than for the general population (104 versus 36) and higher than for the 56 treated boys (82 versus 56) with 2 standard deviations above the norm for the population. Three-quarters of the adolescents had psychiatric comorbidity: conduct disorder (44%), depression (28%), or posttraumatic stress disorder (11%). The findings support the discriminative validity of the YSR as part of a structured global assessment of substance-abusing adolescents, in particular to identify the frequently present psychiatric comorbidities.