RESUMO
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Population studies on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in different countries of the world, have reported varying rates of disorders. There are very few studies in India and these vary widely in methodology and reported rates of disorders. The main objective of this research was to study the extent and nature of psychiatric disorders in school children in a defined geographical area and to study their psychosocial correlates. METHODS: School children, aged 4-11 yr, in the city of Chandigarh, were studied using multi-stage random sampling, and multi-informant assessment procedure. Teachers assessment on Rutter-B Scale (Stage I) was followed by parent interview (Stage II) for all children on the Childhood Psychopathology Measurement Schedule which is an Indian adaptation of Achenbach's Childhood Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Children scoring above the cut-off at Stage I and/or Stage II were assessed clinically by two psychiatrists (Stage III) who interviewed parents as well as the child taking detailed clinical history and mental state examination including IQ assessment. RESULTS: 6.33 per cent of the children studied (n = 963) were found to have psychiatric disorders on ICD-10 criteria. Teacher's estimation of the prevalence rates was higher, i.e., 10.17 per cent as compared to parent's estimate i.e., 7.48 per cent. The most prevalent disorder was enuresis. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: This study provides data for comparative epidemiology and highlights issues relating to cultural context of disorders in child psychiatric epidemiology.