The DOI matches its Crossref record; the references it cites are not checked yet.
Prevalence and stability of mental disorders among young adults: findings from a longitudinal study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Mental disorders often have onset early in life, contribute substantially to the global disease burden, and may interfere with young people's ability to complete age-relevant tasks in important developmental periods. However, knowledge about prevalence and course of mental disorders in young adulthood is sparse. The aim of the current study was to estimate prevalence and stability of mental disorders from the twenties to the thirties/forties. METHODS: DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview in two waves (1999-2004 and 2010-2011) in 1623 young adult Norwegian twins (63.2% women, aged 19-29 years in wave 1). RESULTS: In wave 1, the 12-month prevalence of any mental disorder among people in the twenties was 19.8% (men) and 32.4% (women), anxiety disorders: 9.6% (men) and 26.7% (women), anxiety disorders excluding specific phobias: 2.5% (men) and 6.9% (women), major depressive disorder (MDD): 4.4% (men) and 7.2% (women), and alcohol use disorder (AUD): 8.7% (men) and 4.4% (women). The prevalence of any mental disorder decreased from the twenties to the thirties/forties. This was due to a decrease in AUD and specific phobias. Anxiety disorders in the twenties predicted anxiety disorders and MDD ten years later, even when controlling for the association between these disorders in the twenties. MDD in the twenties predicted MDD ten years later. At both ages, two-week and 12-month prevalence estimates differed markedly for MDD - indicating an episodic course. CONCLUSIONS: Common mental disorders are highly prevalent among young adults in the twenties, and somewhat less prevalent in the thirties/forties. Those who suffer from one mental disorder in the twenties are at considerably increased risk for suffering from a disorder ten years later as well. This may have significant implications for young people's ability to attain education, establish a family, and participate in occupational life.
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?
In the general pediatric population, the base rate for having a psychiatric disorder at any time is about 20%, and is similar in European adults.
“In the general pediatric population, the base rate for having a psychiatric disorder at any time is about 20% (602), and is similar in European adults (603,604),”
From Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia—Current Insights in Pathophysiology, Diagnostics, and Management (2022) · cites this paper as [602]
The Background (page unavailable) reports a 12-month prevalence range of 9.6–27.8% for mental disorders in the general adult population, which is consistent with an approximate 20% figure. The paper’s own study concerns Norwegian adult twins, not European adults generally, and its prevalence estimates cover specified periods rather than ‘at any time.’ The pediatric figure is attached to a different citation and is not assessed here. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMental disorders are highly prevalent among emerging adults, and those suffering from a disorder at this age are more vulnerable to mental problems even 10 years later.
“Indeed, various epidemiological studies have shown that mental disorders are highly prevalent among emerging adults, and those suffering from a disorder at this age are more vulnerable to mental problems even 10 years later [3,4].”
Common mental health problems are highly prevalent in young adults.
“given the high prevalence of common mental health problems in this population. 30”
From Technology-Based Interventions to Improve Help-Seeking for Mental Health Concerns: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [30]
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
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 66 · Cited by 282
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Wittchen HU, Pfister H. DIA-X interviews (M-CIDI): manual fur screening-Verfahren und interview. Frankfurt: Swets & Zeitlinger; 1997.
- Singh K, Xie M. Bootstrap: a statistical method. In: Peterson P, Baker E, McGaw B, editors. International encyclopedia of education. Edn: Amsterdam: Rutgers University NJ: Elsevier Science; 2010.
Metadata
- Authors
- Gustavson, K., Knudsen, A. K., Nesvåg, R., Knudsen, G. P., Vollset, S. E., & Reichborn-Kjennerud, T.
- Affiliations
- Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NO)
- Oslo University Hospital (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Gustavson, Kristin
- Venue
- BMC Psychiatry
- Published
- 2018-03-12
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 65-65
- ISSN
- 1471-244X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5848432
- OpenAlex
- W2789909744
- Cited by
- 282
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 24.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- EkstraStiftelsen Helse og Rehabilitering
- Norwegian Council for Mental Health
- The borderline foundation
- European Commission
- Norges Forskningsråd (196148/V50)
- National Institutes of Health (MH-068643)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- mental illness, young adults, prevalence, longitudinal stability, anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, alcoholism, specific phobia, sex differences, DSM-IV, twins
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Alcoholism, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Major, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Phobic Disorders, Prognosis, Twins, Prevalence, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Young Adult
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
