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Risk factors and correlates of severe psychiatric disorders in a sample of inpatient children
J H Kashani1, A C Dandoy, A F Vaidya
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Missouri-Columbia 65201.
Insights
Severely disturbed hospitalized children showed higher hopelessness, anxiety, low self-esteem, and negative life events. Understanding these risk factors is crucial for assessing psychopathology severity in pediatric mental health.
Area of Science:
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Developmental Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Psychopathology in hospitalized children requires thorough assessment.
- Identifying risk factors aids in understanding severity of mental health conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the pervasiveness of psychopathology in psychiatrically hospitalized children.
- To identify risk factors differentiating severely disturbed from less disturbed children.
Main Methods:
- Utilized three informants for data collection.
- Analyzed risk factors in a sample of 100 hospitalized children.
Main Results:
- Hopelessness, anxiety, low self-esteem, undisciplined personality, and negative life events distinguished severely disturbed children.
- These factors were significant differentiators between severity groups.
Conclusions:
- The degree of psychopathology is critical when examining risk factors.
- Findings emphasize the need to focus on the spectrum of severity in pediatric mental health.
Abstract:
This study used three informants to assess pervasiveness of psychopathology in a sample of 100 psychiatrically hospitalized children. Analyses of risk factors for severely disturbed and less disturbed children revealed that hopelessness, anxiety, low self-esteem, undisciplined personality profile, and negative life events differentiated the severely disturbed group from the less disturbed group. Implications of these findings are discussed, with an emphasis on the importance of focusing on degree of psychopathology with regard to risk factors.