ABSTRACT
A substantial number of developmental disorders originate during childhood: feeding and eating disorders, elimination disorders, anxiety disorders, motor skills disorder, communication disorders, mental retardation, learning disorders, pervasive developmental disorders, tic disorders, and behavior disorders (DSM IV-TR, 2000). Children also experience adult-associated disorders such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, but their prevalence is lower in children than adults. Furthermore, prevalence estimates of childhood disorders vary depending on diagnostic methods and procedures (e.g., number of informants) as well as sampling differences. Overall, however, studies indicate that a significant percentage of children and adolescents in the United States and throughout the world have clinical disorders that cause impairment in daily living. For example, Roberts (1998) reviewed 52 child and adolescent prevalence studies and reported psychopatholgy estimates of 8% for preschoolers, 12% for preadolescents, and 15% for adolescents. Similar results (15%) were reported for adolescents from Scotland (West et al., 2003), and Ford, Goodman, and Meltzer (2003) recently reported that 1 in 10 British children have at least one DSM-IV disorder that warrants treatment. A recent cross-cultural study involving seven countries (Australia, China, Israel, Jamaica, Netherlands, Turkey, and United States) found that gender differences were similar across the seven cultures, with girls reporting significantly higher ratings with respect to internalizing disorders (e.g., anxiety) and boys higher ratings with respect to externalizing disorders (e.g., behavior disorders) (Verhulst et al., 2003).
