title: Psychiatric Disorders in Iranian Children and Adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to investigate the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents in five provinces of Iran: Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz and Mashhad.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the present study, we selected 9,636 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years through multistage cluster random sampling method from Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz and Mashhad. We instructed the clinical psychologists to complete the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for the participants, andthose who received a high score on SDQ, completed the Persian version of Kiddie-SADS-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). We used descriptive analysis and 95% confidence interval to investigate the relationship between scores of the K-SADS questionnaire and demographic factors. We used one-way ANOVA to test the significant differences among the disorders according to sex, age and province of residence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on the results, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) (4.45%) had the highest prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the five provinces and substance abuse and alcohol abuse (0%) had the lowest prevalence. In addition, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had the most prevalence in boys (5.03%) and ODD had the most prevalence in girls (4.05%). Among the three age groups, 6 to 9 year olds had the highest rates of ADHD (5.69%); 10 to 14 and 15 to 18 year olds had the highest rates of ODD (4.32% and 4.37% respectively). Among the five provinces, Tehran and Mashhad allocated the highest rates of ODD; Isfahan and Shiraz had the highest rates of ADHD; and Tabriz had the highest rates of social phobia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study revealed that the overall frequency of psychiatric disorders based on Kiddie-SADS-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) was higher than a similar study. Moreover, in this study, among the five provinces, Tehran and Mashhad allocated the highest rates of ODD; Isfahan and Shiraz had the highest rates of ADHD; and Tabriz had the highest rates of social phobia. Therefore, these percentage of psychiatric disorders in Iran lead us toward a greater use of consultation and mental health services.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Yazd Cardiovascular Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Nastaran
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salmanian
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Asadian-Koohestani
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghanizadeh
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alavi
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychiatry Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ayyoub
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malek
authors.affiliation: Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dastgiri
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moharreri
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Paria
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hebrani
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Soroor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arman
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, Geographic Sciences and Planning Faculty, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Khoshhal Dastjerdi
authors.affiliation: Deputy of Research, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Motavallian
keywords: Child and Adolescents; Iran; Kiddie-SADS-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL); Psychiatric Disorder