Objective

We examined if a parent-rated general factor of psychopathology in childhood predicted independently measured severe adverse mental health outcomes in adolescence.

Method

We used the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden, which targets all twin children in Sweden. Parents rated their children (N = 16,806) on 43 symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, conduct problems, and anxiety/emotionality when the twins turned 12 or 9 years old. Adverse mental health outcomes in adolescence were retrieved from national registers, and included a) psychiatric diagnoses; b) prescription of anxiolytic or antidepressant medication; c) court convictions of crimes; and d) failure to achieve eligibility for high school.

Results

Parent-rated inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, conduct problems, and anxiety/emotionality in childhood predicted all adverse mental health outcomes in adolescence (mean odds ratio = 1.76; range = 1.41 to 2.18; all ps < .05). However, several of these associations were non-significant in a multiple regression framework, suggesting the influence of common variance. A general factor of psychopathology uniquely predicted all outcomes (mean odds ratio = 1.58; range = 1.34 to 1.84; all ps < .05), whereas the specific factors only predicted a subset of the outcomes.

Conclusion

Mental health problems in childhood are associated with a host of adverse outcomes in adolescence and to a considerable extent these associations are driven by a general factor of psychopathology. The general factor may be important, therefore, to clinical prognosis, which informs clinical decision making for children.

中文翻译：

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儿童心理病理学一般因素的标准有效性和实用性：与青少年独立评估的严重不良心理健康结果相关的预测性协会

客观的

我们检查了儿童期父母对心理病理学评估的一般因素是否独立预测了青春期严重不良心理健康结果。

方法

我们使用了瑞典的儿童和青少年双胞胎研究，该研究针对瑞典的所有双胞胎儿童。父母对孩子（N = 16,806）进行评估时，发现双胞胎12岁或9岁时有43种注意力不集中，冲动过度，行为障碍和焦虑/情绪低落的症状。从国家注册处检索青春期不良的心理健康结局，其中包括：a）精神病学诊断；b）抗焦虑药或抗抑郁药的处方；c）法院对罪行的定罪；d）未能达到高中资格。

结果

父母评估的注意力不集中，多动冲动，行为问题以及儿童期的焦虑/情绪可预测青春期所有不利的心理健康结局（平均优势比= 1.76；范围= 1.41至2.18；所有p s <.05）。但是，这些关联中的一些在多元回归框架中不显着，表明存在共同方差的影响。精神病理学的一般因素可以唯一预测所有结局（平均优势比= 1.58；范围= 1.34至1.84；所有p s < .05），而特定因素仅可以预测结局的一个子集。

结论

儿童时期的心理健康问题与青春期的许多不良后果相关，并且在很大程度上，这些关联是由心理病理学的一般因素驱动的。因此，一般因素对临床预后可能很重要，这为儿童的临床决策提供了依据。