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Comorbid psychopathology in adolescents and young adults treated for substance use disorders

A review

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Abstract

Objective

In a recent review, the prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders in non-treated adolescents and young adults with substance use disorders (SUD) in the general population was summarized. This review looks into the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in adolescents and young adults treated for SUD.

Method

A computerized literature search was conducted resulting in ten eligible studies.

Results

The prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders varied from 61% to 88%. Externalizing disorders, especially Conduct Disorder (CD), were most consistently linked to SUD in treatment seeking adolescents. Girls are distinguished by their high rate of comorbid internalizing disorders.

Conclusions

Comparison with data from community and juvenile justice studies shows an ascending trend of comorbidity rates of externalizing disorders from community to clinical and finally to juvenile justice samples. It seems that young addicts with comorbid disorders are at high risk of ending up in the juvenile justice system.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Stichting Kinder- & Jeugdpsychiatrie Oost-Nederland (SKJPON) for their generous support and the National Fund Mental Public Health (NFGV) for their grant (no. 5942).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Centre & the Academic Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Oost-Nederland, Reinier Postlaan 12, 6525 GC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Christianne Couwenbergh MSc & Rutger J. van der Gaag MD, PhD

  2. Dept. of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam & Amsterdam Institute of Addiction Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Wim van den Brink MD, PhD

  3. Dept. of Clinical Genetics, Utrecht University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Kirsten Zwart MSc

  4. Meerkanten GGZ Flevo-Veluwe, Ermelo, The Netherlands

    Coby Vreugdenhil MD, PhD

  5. Dept. of Addiction Psychiatry, GGZ Zwolse Poort, Zwolle, The Netherlands

    Patricia van Wijngaarden-Cremers MD

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  1. Christianne Couwenbergh MSc
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  2. Wim van den Brink MD, PhD
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  3. Kirsten Zwart MSc
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  4. Coby Vreugdenhil MD, PhD
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  5. Patricia van Wijngaarden-Cremers MD
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  6. Rutger J. van der Gaag MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Christianne Couwenbergh MSc.

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Couwenbergh, C., van den Brink, W., Zwart, K. et al. Comorbid psychopathology in adolescents and young adults treated for substance use disorders. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 15, 319–328 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-006-0535-6

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