Impulse-control disorders in adolescent psychiatric inpatients: co-occurring disorders and sex differences.
OBJECTIVE
To examine in a sex-sensitive manner the frequencies, clinical correlates, and patterns of co-occurrence of impulse-control disorders in adolescent psychiatric inpatients.


METHODS
102 consecutive adolescents (54.9% females; mean age = 15.8 +/- 1.4 years) admitted to an inpatient psychiatric service for a variety of disorders were screened for impulse-control disorders from January through June 2006 using the Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview. Subjects screening positive were blindly evaluated with structured clinical interviews.


RESULTS
Forty-one patients (40.2%) met criteria for a current impulse-control disorder. The most common impulse-control disorder was intermittent explosive disorder (12.7%). Compared to patients without impulse-control disorders, those with impulse-control disorders were more likely to report previous psychiatric hospitalization (75.6% vs. 41.0%; p = .001) and internalizing disorders (78.0% vs. 55.7%; p = .04). Although not statistically significantly different, a numerically larger proportion of girls as compared with boys had an impulse-control disorder (48.2% vs. 30.4%; p = .07). In particular, a statistically greater percentage of females had pyromania (12.5% vs. 0%; p = .02).


CONCLUSIONS
Impulse-control disorders are common among adolescent psychiatric inpatients, with a trend toward impulse-control disorders being more common in girls. Impulse-control disorders appear associated with more severe psychiatric illness. Sex-specific patterns of impulse-control disorder occurrence in adults do not appear uniformly applicable to adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Better identification of impulse-control disorders in adolescents is needed, as are empirically validated treatments for adolescents with co-occurring impulse-control disorders.
Grant
Jon E
JE
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. grant045@umn.edu
Williams
Kyle A
KA
Potenza
Marc N
MN
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017678:Sex Distribution