THE CHARTRES STUDY .1. PREVALENCE OF PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS AMONG FRENCH SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN

A survey of child psychiatric disorders was conducted in a community s ample of 2441 French school-aged children selected from 18 public and private schools; children attending special classes were oversampled. A two-stage survey design was used to identify disorders. Measures wer e the Child Behavior Checklist and the Rutter teacher scale for screen ing. The Isle of Wight parental interview was used in the second phase for 217 home interviews, along with the Children Global Assessment Sc ale as an index of impaired functioning. Response rates were excellent , and non-respondents in the screening phase were shown to have higher levels of psychopathology as gauged by their teacher scale scores. Se veral weights were used in the analysis to adjust for differential pro babilities of selection and participation in each survey phase. The ov erall prevalence rate among 8-11-year-olds was estimated to be 12.4% ( 5.9% for more severe disorders), with roughly equal rates of disruptiv e and emotional disorders (6.5% and 5.9%). Prevalence was higher in bo ys (15.0%) than in girls (9.5%), owing to a threefold increase in thei r frequency of conduct disturbances. Rates of disturbance were twice a s high among children with special educational needs, while no differe nce was found between private and public schools. The frequency of beh avioural problems appeared to be similar in the urban and semi-rural s ubsamples.