Cited by 365Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentMental Health Treatment and AccessMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Epidemiology and Impact of Health Care Provider–Diagnosed Anxiety and Depression Among US Children

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Bitsko, Rebecca H., Holbrook, Joseph R., Ghandour, Reem M., Blumberg, Stephen J., Visser, Susanna N., Perou, Ruth, Walkup, John T.·2018·Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics

Abstract

Objective: This study documents the prevalence and impact of anxiety and depression in US children based on the parent report of health care provider diagnosis. Methods: National Survey of Children's Health data from 2003, 2007, and 2011–2012 were analyzed to estimate the prevalence of anxiety or depression among children aged 6 to 17 years. Estimates were based on the parent report of being told by a health care provider that their child had the specified condition. Sociodemographic characteristics, co-occurrence of other conditions, health care use, school measures, and parenting aggravation were estimated using 2011–2012 data. Results: Based on the parent report, lifetime diagnosis of anxiety or depression among children aged 6 to 17 years increased from 5.4% in 2003 to 8.4% in 2011–2012. Current anxiety or depression increased from 4.7% in 2007 to 5.3% in 2011–2012; current anxiety increased significantly, whereas current depression did not change. Anxiety and depression were associated with increased risk of co-occurring conditions, health care use, school problems, and having parents with high parenting aggravation. Children with anxiety or depression with effective care coordination or a medical home were less likely to have unmet health care needs or parents with high parenting aggravation. Conclusion: By parent report, more than 1 in 20 US children had current anxiety or depression in 2011–2012. Both were associated with significant comorbidity and impact on children and families. These findings may inform efforts to improve the health and well-being of children with internalizing disorders. Future research is needed to determine why child anxiety diagnoses seem to have increased from 2007 to 2012.

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  • The prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety and moderately severe to severe depression in this study were lower than expected based on previous literature.

    “Interestingly, though, the prevalence of reporting moderate to severe anxiety (15.8%) and moderately severe to severe depression (7.0%) were lower than expected based on previous literature [3,4,5].”

    From Academic Stress, Physical Activity, Sleep, and Mental Health among Chinese Adolescents (2021) · cites this paper as [5]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) says this paper’s estimates of provider-diagnosed childhood anxiety were lower than those in community-based studies. It does not make the same comparison for depression, and its parent-reported diagnoses are not directly comparable to the citing study’s moderate-to-severe symptom categories. It therefore supports the general anxiety comparison, but not the full claim about both conditions. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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3 of the 30 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [10]Costello JE Mustillo S Keeler G Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence Levin BL Petrila J Hennessy KD Mental Health Services: A Public Health Perspective 2nd New York, NY Oxford University Press 2004
  2. [16]Bramlett MD Blumberg SJ Zablotsky B Design and operation of the national survey of Children's health, 2011–2012 Vital Health Stat 1 2017 1 256 28796596
  3. [17]Blumberg SJ Foster EB Frasier AM Design and operation of the national survey of Children's health, 2007 Vital Health Stat 1 2012 1 149 22834229
  4. [20]Bethell CD Read D Stein RE Identifying children with special health care needs: development and evaluation of a short screening instrument Ambul Pediatr 2002 2 38 48 11888437
  5. [21]Robinson LR Bitsko RH Schieve LA Tourette syndrome, parenting aggravation, and the contribution of co-occurring conditions among a nationally representative sample Disabil Health J 2013 6 26 35 23260608 PMC4394721

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Authors
Bitsko, R. H., Holbrook, J. R., Ghandour, R. M., Blumberg, S. J., Visser, S. N., Perou, R., & Walkup, J. T.
Affiliations
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
  • Health Resources and Services Administration (US)
  • Lurie Children's Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
  • Bitsko, Rebecca H.
  • Holbrook, Joseph R.
Venue
Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics
Published
2018-06
Volume
39
Issue
5
Pages
395-403
ISSN
0196-206X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2799338644
Cited by
364
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 31 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 52 · 2023: 60 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 57 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 5 · 2012: 1
FWCI
37.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (CC999999)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
Keywords
childhood anxiety, childhood depression, prevalence, parent report, internalizing disorders, comorbidities, health care utilization, school problems, care coordination, patient-centered medical home, unmet health needs, National Survey of Children's Health
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Anxiety, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Female, Health Personnel, Health Services Needs and Demand, Humans, Income, Male, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Comorbidity

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