title: Is family size related to adolescence mental hospitalization?
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between family size and psychiatric disorders of underage adolescent psychiatric inpatients. The study sample consisted of 508 adolescents (age 12-17) admitted to psychiatric impatient care between April 2001 and March 2006. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition-based psychiatric diagnoses and variables measuring family size were obtained from the Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children Present and Lifetime (K-SADS-PL). The family size of the general Finnish population was used as a reference population. There was a significant difference between the family size of the inpatient adolescents and the general population: 17.0% of adolescents came from large families (with 6 or more children) while the percentage in the general population was 3.3. A girl from a large family had an about 4-fold risk of psychosis other than schizophrenia. However, large family size was not associated with a risk for schizophrenia. Large family size was overrepresented among underage adolescents admitted for psychiatric hospitalization in Northern Finland.
authors.affiliation: University of Oulu, Department of Psychiatry, BOX 5000, 90014 University of Oulu, Finland. paulakyl@mail.student.oulu.fi
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kylmänen
authors.forename: Helinä
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hakko
authors.forename: Pirkko
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Räsänen
authors.forename: Kaisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Riala
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001244:Association; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors