The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in U.S. adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication - Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A)
Open accessAbstract
Objective To present estimates of the lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV mental disorders with and without severe impairment, their comorbidity across broad classes of disorder, and their sociodemographic correlates.Method The National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement NCS-A is a nationally representative face-to-face survey of 10,123 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years in the continental United States. DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed using a modified version of the fully structured World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview.Results Anxiety disorders were the most common condition (31.9%), followed by behavior disorders (19.1%), mood disorders (14.3%), and substance use disorders (11.4%), with approximately 40% of participants with one class of disorder also meeting criteria for another class of lifetime disorder. The overall prevalence of disorders with severe impairment and/or distress was 22.2% (11.2% with mood disorders, 8.3% with anxiety disorders, and 9.6% behavior disorders). The median age of onset for disorder classes was earliest for anxiety (6 years), followed by 11 years for behavior, 13 years for mood, and 15 years for substance use disorders.Conclusions These findings provide the first prevalence data on a broad range of mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents. Approximately one in every four to five youth in the U.S. meets criteria for a mental disorder with severe impairment across their lifetime. The likelihood that common mental disorders in adults first emerge in childhood and adolescence highlights the need for a transition from the common focus on treatment of U.S. youth to that of prevention and early intervention.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source doesn’t support the claim as written.
In the citing paper
“Research in this population is especially important considering that over one-third of 13–18-year-olds meet criteria for an anxiety disorder (Merikangas et al., 2010).”
From Neural Activation to Parental Praise Interacts With Social Context to Predict Adolescent Depressive Symptoms (2019) · cites this paper as Merikangas et al., 2010
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Estimates of lifetime prevalence suggest 20% to 30% of adolescents will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives (Merikangas 2010).”
From Exercise for the treatment of anxiety in children and adolescents (2022) · cites this paper as Merikangas 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Excessive worry, often as part of an anxiety disorder, is also extremely common in individuals with depressive disorders”
From Intolerance of Uncertainty–Focused Treatment for Adolescents With Excessive Worry: A Pilot Feasibility Study (2020) · cites this paper as Merikangas et al., 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“This value is slightly higher than data from previous studies that considered similar age groups (e.g., [15,37,38]) and it is much higher than a previous work using a Portuguese adolescent sample [27].”
From The Prevalence of Adolescent Social Fears and Social Anxiety Disorder in School Contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Research consistently shows that anxiety disorders (ADs) are the most common mental health conditions during adolescence [2–8]”
From Acceptance and commitment therapy as a transdiagnostic approach to adolescents with different anxiety disorders: study protocol. (2025) · cites this paper as [2]
In the citing paper
“Attempts to minimize such biases were built into the methods of the CIDI.28,51”
From Prevalence and Correlates of Eating Disorders in Adolescents: Results From the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (2011) · cites this paper as [28]
In the citing paper
“This is not surprising considering that psychological distress associated with depression and anxiety is highly prevalent in adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years old [71,72].”
From Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health Outcomes in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [72]
In the citing paper
“mental health disorders affecting approximately one in five adolescents internationally [4,5].”
From Feasibility of "CopeSmart": A Telemental Health App for Adolescents (2015) · cites this paper as [4]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Kessler, R. C., & Üstün, T. B. (2004) · International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1002/mpr.168 · Cited by 4,771
Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General
United States. Public Health Service. Office of the Surgeon General (1999) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e636982009-001 · Cited by 3,105
Kim-Cohen, J., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Harrington, H., Milne, B. J., & Poulton, R. (2003) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.60.7.709 · Cited by 2,025
(2009) · Cited by 2,013
Angold, A., Costello, E. J., & Erkanli, A. (1999) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00424 · Cited by 1,872
Pine, D. S., Cohen, P., Gurley, D., Brook, J., & Ma, Y. (1998) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.55.1.56 · Cited by 1,753
SHAFFER, D., FISHER, P., DULCAN, M. K., DAVIES, M., PIACENTINI, J., SCHWAB-STONE, M. E., LAHEY, B. B., BOURDON, K., JENSEN, P. S., BIRD, H. R., et al. (1996) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00004583-199607000-00012 · Cited by 1,587
Lewinsohn, P. M., Hops, H., Roberts, R. E., Seeley, J. R., & Andrews, J. A. (1993) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.102.1.133 · Cited by 1,547
A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence.
Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (2003) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037//0012-1649.39.2.349 · Cited by 1,295
Epidemiology of mental disorders in children and adolescents
Merikangas, K. R., Nakamura, E. F., & Kessler, R. C. (2009) · Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.31887/dcns.2009.11.1/krmerikangas · Cited by 1,246
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Racine, N., McArthur, B. A., Cooke, J. E., Eirich, R., Zhu, J., & Madigan, S. (2021) · JAMA Pediatrics · doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482 · Cited by 2,805
Auerbach, R. P., Collaborators, W. W.-I., Mortier, P., Bruffaerts, R., Alonso, J., Benjet, C., Cuijpers, P., Demyttenaere, K., Ebert, D. D., Green, J. G., et al. (2018) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000362 · Cited by 2,522
Self-citationLai, M.-C., Kassee, C., Besney, R., Bonato, S., Hull, L., Mandy, W., Szatmari, P., & Ameis, S. H. (2019) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(19)30289-5 · Cited by 1,892
Mental Health Surveillance Among Children — United States, 2013–2019
Bitsko, R. H., Claussen, A. H., Lichstein, J., Black, L. I., Jones, S. E., Danielson, M. L., Hoenig, J. M., Davis Jack, S. P., Brody, D. J., Gyawali, S., et al. (2022) · MMWR Supplements · doi:10.15585/mmwr.su7102a1 · Cited by 1,723
Self-citationNock, M. K., Green, J. G., Hwang, I., McLaughlin, K. A., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Kessler, R. C. (2013) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.55 · Cited by 1,666
Metadata
- Authors
- Merikangas, K. R., He, J.-P., Burstein, M., Swanson, S. A., Avenevoli, S., Cui, L., Benjet, C., Georgiades, K., & Swendsen, J.
- Affiliations
- National Institute of Mental Health (US)
- Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz (MX)
- McMaster University (CA)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Merikangas, Kathleen Ries
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-10
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 980-989
- ISSN
- 0890-8567 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2946114
- OpenAlex
- W2163659555
- Cited by
- 6,278
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 248 · 2025: 349 · 2024: 445 · 2023: 449 · 2022: 502 · 2021: 643 · 2020: 608 · 2019: 469 · 2018: 448 · 2017: 484 · 2016: 397 · 2015: 397 · 2014: 312 · 2013: 249 · 2012: 173
- FWCI
- 176.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (ZIAMH002806, ZIAMH002849, ZIAMH002808, U01MH060220)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA016558)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Keywords
- lifetime prevalence, adolescent mental disorders, psychiatric comorbidity, anxiety disorders, behavior disorders, mood disorders, substance use disorders, age of onset, sociodemographic correlates, early intervention, prevention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Alcoholism, Anxiety Disorders, Mental Disorders, Cross-Sectional Studies, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Interview, Psychological, Male, Personality Assessment, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Comorbidity, Age of Onset, Mood Disorders, Substance-Related Disorders, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
