Correlates of emotional disorder from a community survey

This report examines the correlates of emotional disorder (ED) for children in the community. The following models were used to examine the correlates of ED: 1. the variables predicting the presence or absence of ED; 2. the variables predicting the presence or absence of ED when controlling for coexisting hyperactivity and conduct disorder; and 3. the correlates of pure ED versus pure hyperactivity, and pure ED versus pure conduct disorder. Data from the Ontario Child Health Study, a community survey of children aged four to 16 years in the province of Ontario, were used. Many of the correlates proposed in the literature as variables that differentiate children with ED from normal children were supported using the first two models. Only one correlate was found which differentiated pure ED from pure hyperactivity, and no correlates differentiated children with pure ED from children with pure conduct disorder.