title: Psychiatric disorders in preschoolers: continuity from ages 3 to 6.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent studies indicate that many preschoolers meet diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders. However, data on the continuity of these diagnoses are limited, particularly from studies examining a broad range of disorders in community samples. Such studies are necessary to elucidate the validity and clinical significance of psychiatric diagnoses in young children. The authors examined the continuity of specific psychiatric disorders in a large community sample of preschoolers from the preschool period (age 3) to the beginning of the school-age period (age 6).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eligible families with a 3-year child were recruited from the community through commercial mailing lists. For 462 children, the child's primary caretaker was interviewed at baseline and again when the child was age 6, using the parent-report Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment, a comprehensive diagnostic interview. The authors examined the continuity of DSM-IV diagnoses from ages 3 to 6.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three-month rates of disorders were relatively stable from age 3 to age 6. Children who met criteria for any diagnosis at age 3 were nearly five times as likely as the others to meet criteria for a diagnosis at age 6. There was significant homotypic continuity from age 3 to age 6 for anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and oppositional defiant disorder, and heterotypic continuity between depression and anxiety, between anxiety and oppositional defiant disorder, and between ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that preschool psychiatric disorders are moderately stable, with rates of disorders and patterns of homotypic and heterotypic continuity similar to those observed in samples of older children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, New York, USA. sbufferd@csusm.edu
authors.forename: Sara J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Bufferd
authors.forename: Lea R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.forename: Gabrielle A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Daniel N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000379:Agoraphobia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015982:Bias; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results