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Cited by 170Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentMental Health Treatment and AccessSuicide and Self-Harm Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 40 of the 40 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Temporal trends in annual incidence rates for psychiatric disorders and self-harm among children and adolescents in the UK, 2003–2018

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Cybulski, Lukasz, Ashcroft, Darren M., Carr, Matthew J., Garg, Shruti, Chew-Graham, Carolyn A., Kapur, Nav, Webb, Roger T.·2021·BMC Psychiatry
DOI 10.1186/s12888-021-03235-wPMC PMC8092997
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Abstract

Background: There has been growing concern in the UK over recent years that a perceived mental health crisis is affecting children and adolescents, although published epidemiological evidence is limited. Methods: Two population-based UK primary care cohorts were delineated in the Aurum and GOLD datasets of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). We included data from 9,133,246 individuals aged 1–20 who contributed 117,682,651 person-years of observation time. Sex- and age-stratified annual incidence rates were estimated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (age groups: 1–5, 6–9, 10–12, 13–16, 17–19), depression, anxiety disorders (6–9, 10–12, 13–16, 17–19), eating disorders and self-harm (10–12, 13–16, 17–19) during 2003–2018. We fitted negative binomial regressions to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) to examine change in incidence between the first (2003) and final year (2018) year of observation and to examine sex-specific incidence. Results: The results indicated that the overall incidence has increased substantially in both boys and girls in between 2003 and 2018 for anxiety disorders (IRR 3.51 95% CI 3.18–3.89), depression (2.37; 2.03–2.77), ASD (2.36; 1.72–3.26), ADHD (2.3; 1.73–3.25), and self-harm (2.25; 1.82–2.79). The incidence for eating disorders also increased (IRR 1.3 95% CI 1.06–1.61), but less sharply. The incidence of anxiety disorders, depression, self-harm and eating disorders was in absolute terms higher in girls, whereas the opposite was true for the incidence of ADHD and ASD, which were higher among boys. The largest relative increases in incidence were observed for neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly among girls diagnosed with ADHD or ASD. However, in absolute terms, the incidence was much higher for depression and anxiety disorders. Conclusion: The number of young people seeking help for psychological distress appears to have increased in recent years. Changes to diagnostic criteria, reduced stigma, and increased awareness may partly explain our results, but we cannot rule out true increases in incidence occurring in the population. Whatever the explanation, the marked rise in demand for healthcare services means that it may be more challenging for affected young people to promptly access the care and support that they need.

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Fig. 1 Temporal trends in annual incidence rates for mental illnesses by age group, 2003–2018
Fig. 1 Temporal trends in annual incidence rates for mental illnesses by age group, 2003–2018CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 2 Temporal trends in annual incidence rates for neurodevelopmental disorders by age group, 2003–2018
Fig. 2 Temporal trends in annual incidence rates for neurodevelopmental disorders by age group, 2003–2018CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 3 Temporal trends in annual incidence rates for self-harm by age group, 2003–2018
Fig. 3 Temporal trends in annual incidence rates for self-harm by age group, 2003–2018CC BY · PubMed Central

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. World Health Organization. Mental health action plan 2013-2020. 2013.
  2. NHS Mental Health Taskforce. The five year forward view for mental health. The Mental Health Taskforce 2016.
  3. Department of Health. Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper. 2017.
  4. Mclennan D, Barnes H, Noble M, Davies J, Garratt E. The English indices of deprivation 2010 the English indices of deprivation 2010; 2010.

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Metadata

Authors
Cybulski, L., Ashcroft, D. M., Carr, M. J., Garg, S., Chew-Graham, C. A., Kapur, N., & Webb, R. T.
Affiliations
  • Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
  • Keele University (GB)
ORCID
Venue
BMC Psychiatry
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-05-03
Volume
21
Issue
1
Pages
229-229
ISSN
1471-244X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12888-021-03235-w
PMC
PMC8092997
OpenAlex
W3159798238
Cited by
170
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 5
FWCI
16.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Keele Research Repository (Keele University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR-INF-0701)
  • Department of Health and Social Care
  • Patient Safety Translational Research Centre
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 › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
Keywords
mental illness, children and adolescents, incidence trends, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, self-harm, sex differences, mental health crisis, primary care, Clinical Practice Research Datalink, neurodevelopmental disorders, incidence rate ratio, United Kingdom
MeSH terms
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety Disorders, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Infant, Male, Incidence, Self-Injurious Behavior, Young Adult

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