THE PERSISTENCE OF PSYCHIATRIC DISTURBANCE AMONG CHILDREN

This study assessed the persistence of psychiatric disturbance and fac tors associated with it. The material consisted of the Rutter A2 Scale , the Rutter B2 Scale and the Children's Depression Inventories (CDI) of 1268 children completed respectively by parents, teachers and the c hildren themselves. Three questionnaires were filled out twice, with a n interval of 4 years. The mean scores obtained from the questionnaire s were lower for both boys and girls in study 2 than in study 1. Diffe rences between genders in both studies were most prominent when inform ation given by teachers was used. Children screened as disturbed in st udy 1 were clearly more prone to be disturbed in study 2 as well. The risk varied between 5- and 8.8-fold when the same assessment method wa s used in both studies. Another variable clearly connected with distur bance in study 2 was psychiatric consultation reported by the parents. The sex of the child also proved to be important when the disturbance was assessed using the information given by the teacher.