Psychopathology in a community sample of children and adolescents: a developmental perspective.

Psychiatric disorders, symptom clusters and adjustment problems in a community based sample comprised three age cohorts: 8, 12, and 17 years. The data indicated that anxiety symptoms decreased with age. Conduct problems increased with age for males, affective problems increased with age for females, and substance use and social anxiety increased with age for both sexes. Concerns about inadequacy also increases with age, but only for females. These gender-based developmental differences in psychopathology and other findings are discussed.