Predictors of psychopathology in young adults referred to mental health services in childhood or adolescence

Background For children referred to mental health services future functioni ng may be hampered. Aims To examine stability and prediction of behavioural and emotional probl ems from childhood into adulthood. Method A referred sample (n=789) aged 4-18 years was followed up after a me an of 10.5 years. Scores derived from the Child Behavior Checklist,Youth Se lf-Report and Teacher Report Form were related to equivalent scores for you ng adults from the Young Adult Self-Report and Young Adult Behavior Checkli st. Results Correlations between first contact (TI) and follow-up (T2) scores w ere 0.12-0.53. Young adult psychopathology was predicted by corresponding T l problem scores. Social problems and anxious/depressed scores were predict ors of general problem behaviour. Conclusions Problem behaviour of children and adolescents referred to out-p atient mental health services is highly predictive of similar problem behav iour at young adulthood. Stability is higher for externalising than for int ernalising behaviour and for intra-informant than for inter-informant infor mation. Stabilities are similar across gender. To obtain a comprehensive pi cture of the young adult's functioning, information from related adults may prove valuable.