Quality of life in children with psychiatric disorders: self-, parent, and clinician report.
OBJECTIVE
To study the relationship between child psychiatric disorders and quality of life (QoL).


METHODS
In a sample of 310 children (ages 6-18 years) referred for psychiatric problems, children, parents, and clinicians reported on psychopathology and subjective and objective QoL indicators.


RESULTS
Six diagnostic categories were distinguished: attention-deficit and disruptive behavior disorders, anxiety disorders, pervasive developmental disorders, mood disorders, other disorders, and no diagnosis. In overall QoL, no differences were found between the diagnostic categories, except in clinician's ratings, who rated children with pervasive developmental disorder as having a poorer QoL than children with other diagnoses. In each diagnostic category specific QoL subdomains were affected: for children with attention-deficit and disruptive behavior disorder, school functioning and social functioning; for children with anxiety disorder, emotional functioning; for children with pervasive developmental disorder, social functioning; and for children with mood disorder, emotional functioning.


CONCLUSIONS
Across multiple raters, the distinguished child psychiatric disorders had a different impact on QoL. Knowledge about domains of QoL that are affected in specific child psychiatric disorders can help clinicians to focus on particular QoL domains during the diagnostic process and to define adequate treatment goals.
Bastiaansen
Dennis
D
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia, The Netherlands. d.bastiaansen@erasmusmc.nl
Koot
Hans M
HM
Ferdinand
Robert F
RF
Verhulst
Frank C
FC
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D011788:Quality of Life; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires