Child and Adolescent Mental Illness Statistics

Did You Know???

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
is a condition that becomes apparent in some children in the preschool and early school years. It is hard for these children to control their behavior and/or pay attention. It is estimated that between 3 and 5 percent of children have ADHD, or approximately 2 million children in the United States. This means that in a classroom of 25 to 30 children, it is likely that at least one will have ADHD. (Source: NIMH)

Autism Spectrum Disorders
are more common in the pediatric population than are some better known disorders such as diabetes, spinal bifida, or Down syndrome. (Source: American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR (fourth edition, text revision). A recent study of a U.S. metropolitan area estimated that 3.4 of every 1,000 children 3-10 years old had autism. (Source: Yeargin-Allsopp M, Rice C, Karapurkar T, Doernberg N, Boyle C, Murphy C. Prevalence of Autism in a US Metropolitan Area. JAMA. 2003 Jan 1;289(1):49-55)

Bipolar Disorder
also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function. About 5.7 million American adults or about 2.6 percent of the population age 18 and older in any given year, have bipolar disorder. Both children and adolescents can develop bipolar disorder. It is more likely to affect the children of parents who have the illness. (Source: NIMH)

Conduct disorder
is a behavior disorder, sometimes diagnosed in childhood, that is characterized by antisocial behaviors which violate the rights of others and age-appropriate social standards and rules. The diagnosis for children ages nine to 17 years old who have conduct disorders is estimated to be as high as 10 percent. The disorder is more common in boys than in girls. Children and adolescents with conduct disorders often have other psychiatric problems as well that may be a contributing factor to the development of the conduct disorder. The prevalence of conduct disorders has increased over recent decades. (Source: National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, Medline Plus, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000919.htm, updated 11/15/2006) About 20 to 40 percent of ADHD children may eventually develop conduct disorder. (Source: NIMH)

Depression
is a treatable illness. Depression is more than a sad mood, depression affects a young person’s ability to think, feel, and behave in a normal manner. Depression can lead to school failure, alcohol and drug use, and even suicide. At any point in time, 10 to 15 percent of child and adolescents have some symptoms of depression. (Source: SAMHSA, CMHS, 2003: Major Depression in Children and Adolescents Fact Sheet) Major depression strikes about 1 in 12 adolescents. Among those adolescents that develop major depression, 1 in 14 will commit suicide as a young adult. (Source: Weissman, et.al., Depressed Adolescents All Grown Up, JAMA. 1999 281, 1701-13.)

Eating Disorders
like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating, are becoming increasingly prevalent throughout western countries. According to US estimates from the National Institute of Mental Health, between 5 – 10 million girls and women and 1 million boys and men suffer from eating disorders or other associated dietary conditions. On average, about 0.5 to 3.7 percent of girls and women develop anorexia nervosa, and about 1.1 to 4.2 percent develops bulimia nervosa. About 0.5 percent of those with anorexia die each year as a result of their illness, making it one of the top psychiatric illnesses that lead to death. (Source: NIMH)

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
is a pattern of disobedient, hostile, and defiant behavior toward authority figures, which typically starts by age 8. These children are often stubborn and non-compliant, have outbursts of temper, or become belligerent. They argue with adults and refuse to obey. Some studies have shown that 20% of the school-age population is affected. (Source: National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, Medline http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001537.htm) As many as one-third to one-half of all children with ADHD—mostly boys—have ODD. (Source: NIMH)

PTSD
is a condition that affects individuals who have experienced a traumatic event and respond with intense feelings of fear, helplessness or horror. Research indicates that about 14-43% of boys and girls have experienced at least one traumatic event, and that 3 to 15% of these girls and 1 to 6% of these boys may be diagnosed with PTSD. Rates of PTSD vary in children, depending on the type of traumatic event they have experienced: up to 100% of children who witnessed a parental homicide or sexual assault, 90% of sexually abused children, 77% of children exposed to a school shooting, and 35% of urban youth exposed to community violence may have PTSD. (Source: National Center for PTSD, US Department of Veterans Affairs)

Risk-Taking Behavior
is any action that increases the likelihood of injury or death. 71% of all deaths among 10-24 year-olds result from four causes: motor-vehicle crashes, other unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide. The 2003 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that over a thirty day span, 9.9% of high school students surveyed had ridden in a car with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, 18.5% had carried a weapon, 43.3% had drunk alcohol, and 20.2% had used marijuana, 37.2% of sexually active high school students had not used a condom at last sexual intercourse, and 2.1% had ever injected an illegal drug. Over a 12 month span, 35.9% of students surveyed had been in a physical fight. (Source: Eaton, et. al., Youth risk behavior surveillance--United States, 2005, MMWR Surveill Summ, 2006 June 9;55(SS05):1-108. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.)

Schizophrenia
ranks among the top ten causes of disability worldwide. Childhood-onset schizophrenia is rarer than in adults, affecting 1 in 40,000 children under the age of 12. However, adult-onset schizophrenia, which affects 1 in 100 adults, is diagnosed in many young adults – the illness has an average age of onset of 18 in males and 25 in females. The risk of schizophrenia increases tenfold for people who have an immediate family member with the illness. (Source: NIMH)

Self-Injury
is when someone intentionally inflicts damage to their bodies, but without the intent of killing themselves. Self-harm appears to be more common in females than in males, and it tends to begin in adolescence or early adulthood. While some people may engage in self-harm a few times and then stop, others engage in it frequently and have great difficulty stopping the behavior. (Source: National Center for PTSD, US Department of Veterans Affairs) In 2005, there were over 143,000 reported incidents of self-injury for people under the age of 25 – or 1.39% of that population. (Source: Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Center for Disease Control)

Suicide
is the third leading cause of death for 15-to-24-year-olds, and the fourth leading cause of death for 10-to-14-year-olds. (Source: Hamilton, et.al, Annual Summary of Vital Statistics: 2005, PEDIATRICS, 2007, Feb; 119(2): 336-337.) In 2004, more than 5,000 U.S. children and adolescents committed suicide and an additional 171,870 non-fatal self harm injury cases were reported. (Source: CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (producer). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) The warning signs and risk factors associated with teen suicide include: depression, previous suicide attempts, recent losses, frequent thoughts about death, and the use of drugs or alcohol.

Child and Adolescent Drug Abuse Statistics

Did You Know Drug Abuse is Still a Major Problem???

• An estimated 19.5 million Americans aged 12 or older were current users of an illicit drug in 2003. This estimate represents 8.2 percent of the population.
• Over half (51%) of America’s teenagers have tried an illicit drug by the time they finish high school.
• An estimated 71 million Americans reported being current users of a tobacco product in 2003, a prevalence rate of 30% for the population 12 years and older.
• Marijuana is the most widely used illicit substance in this country. In 2003, 14.6 million people were current users of marijuana.
• For the second year in a row inhalant use has increased in 8th graders with 17.3% reporting use at least once in their lifetime. These drugs are particularly dangerous because they can damage the nervous system even after a single use, and they can be fatal.
• Vicodin is one of the drugs most commonly abused by high school seniors. Nearly one in ten 12th graders reported non-medical use of Vicodin in 2004; one in twenty 12th graders reported non-medical use of OxyContin.

(Source: NIDA web site - Data provided from the NIDA funded Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use and the SAMHSA funded 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.)