Gender differences in psychiatric disorders at juvenile probation intake.
OBJECTIVE
We identified gender differences in psychiatric disorders among youths at probation intake.


METHODS
We measured disorders with the Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children among 991 randomly selected youths (200 girls) at probation intake in 8 Texas counties. Logistic regression analyses predicted diagnostic clusters by gender, adjusting for demographics and offense characteristics.


RESULTS
Demographic and offense characteristics explained small but interpretable and specific variance in diagnostic profile. Girls' rates of anxiety and affective disorders were higher than boys' (odds ratios = 0.59 and 0.32, respectively). Girls with violent offenses, compared with other groups, were 3 to 5 times as likely to report anxiety disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
Among youths with conduct problems, girls demonstrated an elevated risk for co-occurring anxiety or affective disorder.
Wasserman
Gail A
GA
Center for Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice, Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 78, New York, NY 10032, USA. wassermg@childpsych.columbia.edu
McReynolds
Larkin S
LS
Ko
Susan J
SJ
Katz
Laura M
LM
Carpenter
Jennifer R
JR
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013781:Texas; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*