title: Adolescent adjustment disorder: precipitant stressors and distress symptoms of 89 outpatients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Research on adolescent adjustment disorder (AD) is scarce. We characterized adolescent outpatients with AD in psychosocial background and treatment received compared with patients with other non-psychotic disorders (OND). Furthermore, we explored precipitant stressors, distress symptoms and behavioral problems among males and females with AD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected prospectively on 290 consecutive psychiatric outpatients, aged 12-22 yrs, at a secondary care clinic in Finland. DSM-III-R diagnoses were assigned, based on all available information, at the end of treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  AD was the second most common diagnosis among non-psychotic patients (31% of 290). Compared to OND-patients, those with AD were predominantly female and had less severe psychosocial impairment. In multivariate comparisons school-related stressors, problems with law and restlessness characterized males, and parental illness and internalizing symptoms females with AD. Intensity and duration of treatment of AD-patients varied widely.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adjustment disorder comprised a common clinical entity among adolescent outpatients. Psychiatric assessment and treatment should be individually targeted by taking into account gender-specific stressors and distress symptoms among young people with AD.
authors.affiliation: National Public Health Institute, Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, Helsinki, Finland. mirjami.pelkonen@ktl.fi
authors.forename: Mirjami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pelkonen
authors.forename: Mauri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marttunen
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henriksson
authors.forename: Jouko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lönnqvist
mesh_terms: D000275:Adjustment Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*