MENTAL-HEALTH DISORDERS FROM AGE 15 TO AGE 18 YEARS

Objective: To determine the strength of association between mental hea lth disorders in adolescence and disorder in early adulthood. Method: The study used mental health data from a longitudinal investigation of a New Zealand birth cohort. Of the 943 with prevalence data for DSM-I II disorder at age 15, 890 had prevalence data for DSM-III-R disorder when aged 18 years. Results: Two-thirds of those with disorder at age 15 had disorder at age 18. The residual form of attention deficit diso rder, simple phobias, and oppositional disorders (with no other accomp anying disorders) were associated with the lowest risk of later disord er and conduct disorder with the highest. With the exception of the ov erall symptom level, a variety of characteristics examined (e.g., soci al competence and adversity) could not differentiate between those wit h transient disorder and those with disorder at both ages. Comparisons of those with recurring disorder and those with new disorder at age 1 8 showed that in addition to characteristics of the disorder, disadvan tage was strongly associated with recurrent disorder. Conclusions: The risk of later disorder for those with disorder in adolescence was hig h and differed across type of disorder. Findings suggest that to reduc e the risk of disorder in early adulthood, clinicians could play a mor e active role in community interventions with direct social outcomes.