ArticlePublic health in practice (Oxford, England)2021
Increasing rate of diagnosed childhood mental illness in the United States: Incidence, prevalence and costs.
Article in Public health in practice (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Unpacking sleep and mental health disparities across childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic and systematic review.Sleep medicine reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Biofeedback-based Digital Games and Well-being in Childhood: A Systematic Review.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of children's mental health disorders and implications in pharmacotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Postgraduate medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Predicting Psychiatric Readmission of Children and Adolescents Using Machine Learning.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Changes in incidence of hospital diagnoses of mental disorders among children and adolescents over the past 3 decades.BMJ mental health · 2026Article
- Use, Modality, and Reimbursement Patterns of Outpatient Psychotherapy Among Children With Commercial Insurance.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Feasibility of Supportive Telephone Outreach for Caregivers after Pediatric Mental Health Emergencies.Community mental health journal · 2026Article
- Kids These Days! A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis of Changes in Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Population-Based Samples Over the Past Decades.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2026Review
- The Role of Traumatic Brain Injury on Intimate Partner Violence and Changes in Mental Health From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2026Article
- Middle childhood profiles of social-emotional competencies and difficulties differentiate risk of health service presentations with adolescent mental disorders.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Pediatricians' psychopharmacological practice: a pilot survey in Poland and Ukraine.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- The Cumulative Risk of Having a Family Member With a Diagnosed Mental Disorder: A Nationwide Study of Mental Disorders in Family Networks.Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Caregivers' Preference for Antipsychotic Medication for Youth Less Than 18 Years-Old: A Discrete Choice Experiment Pilot.Patient preference and adherence · 2026Article
- Article
- Prevalence of diagnosed mental health conditions among US children with public and commercial insurance.BMC public health · 2025Article
- [Estimations of incidences of mental disorders in statutory health insurance routine data: methodology and trends from 2006 to 2022].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025Article
- Cognitive Control Decision-Making Dynamics Across Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Youth.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2025Article
- Emergency psychiatric care for children and adolescents: factors associated with multiple visits and hospital admissions.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Mental Disorder Spectrum in Children and Adolescents from 2014-2022: A Nine-year Epidemiological and Clinical Trend.Current medical science · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: This study examined the rate and economic burden of pediatric mental illness from 2012 to 2018. Study design: Observational, retrospective analysis of administrative healthcare data. Methods: This retrospective study of the MarketScan Commercial Research Database included calendar year-based samples (2012-2018) of children aged 4-17 with continuous medical, pharmacy, and mental health/substance abuse coverage for the year of interest and prior year. Incidence and prevalence rates of overall and specific mental illness diagnoses were calculated based on the appearance of diagnosis codes on claims: alcohol/substance abuse, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, bipolar, schizophrenia, developmental disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity, and conduct disorders. Annual direct medical costs were compared between children with any mental illness and a matched non-mental illness control population. Results: Between 2.4 and 4.1 million children qualified for each calendar year sample. From 2012 to 2018, there was a 34.6% increase in the prevalence of mental illness. Attention deficit/hyperactivity, conduct disorders, anxiety, and depression were the most common conditions, while eating disorders, anxiety, and depression presented the greatest increases at 96%, 95%, and 73% respectively. Children with a mental illness incurred significantly greater medical costs compared to matched controls in all years assessed (2018 comparison: $6,055±$27,198 vs. $1,629±$7,274; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Childhood mental illness diagnoses have increased substantially in the United States from 2012 to 2018. In addition to patient impacts, mental health diagnoses also place a notable burden on the healthcare system via increased medical costs. As mental illness is known to be underdiagnosed, the true rate of mental illnesses among children is likely even greater.
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