Vidal-Ribas Pablo, Krebs Georgina, Silver Jamilah, Tseng Wan-Ling, Ford Tamsin, Stringaris Argyris
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research Group, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
Research Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2025 May 19;25(1):1832. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23076-6.
Most research on pediatric irritability focuses on children and/or relies on parent reports. We examined how self-reported irritability in adolescents influences the prevalence, sex distribution and correlates of irritability relative to children and parent reports.
Using data from Mental Health of Children and Young People Survey 2017 in England we contrasted the prevalence of irritability, encompassing irritable mood and temper outbursts, in 2,740 adolescents aged 12-17 (50.3% females), based on parent- and self-report, with that of 4,141 children aged 5-11 (49.4% females) based on parent-report. We examined associations of irritability with mental health problems and impairment.
Parents reported similar prevalence of irritability in adolescent males (14-23%) and females (14-22%), but higher levels of irritability in males (20-25%) than females (15-19%) during childhood. In contrast, adolescent females self-reported more irritable mood (29%, 95%CI 26-31) than males (23%, 95%CI 20-25) and parents. Self-reported irritability in adolescent females was associated with greater emotional problems (irritable mood, b = 0.27, SE = 0.10, p = 0.011; temper outbursts: b = 0.25, SE = 0.11, p = 0.022) and impairment (irritable mood, b = 0.31, SE = 0.10, p = 0.001; temper outbursts: b = 0.31, SE = 0.08, p < 0.001) compared to males. Irritable mood in adolescent females was associated with a higher increase of psychiatric disorders (b = 0.35, SE = 0.15, p = 0.020) compared to males.
Age, sex, and informant are sources of heterogeneity in irritability reporting, and must be considered in the assessment and understanding of irritability-related psychopathology. Longitudinal design studies with comprehensive assessments of irritability across a broad age range are warranted to elucidate its developmental trajectory and causal relationships with other psychopathological symptoms.
大多数关于儿童易怒情绪的研究都聚焦于儿童，并且/或者依赖于家长报告。我们研究了青少年自我报告的易怒情绪如何影响易怒情绪的患病率、性别分布以及与儿童和家长报告相比的相关因素。
利用2017年英格兰儿童和青少年心理健康调查的数据，我们将基于家长报告和自我报告的2740名12 - 17岁青少年（女性占50.3%）中易怒情绪（包括易怒心境和发脾气）的患病率，与基于家长报告的4141名5 - 11岁儿童（女性占49.4%）中易怒情绪的患病率进行了对比。我们研究了易怒情绪与心理健康问题及功能损害之间的关联。
家长报告青少年男性（14 - 23%）和女性（14 - 22%）中易怒情绪的患病率相似，但在儿童期男性（20 - 25%）的易怒情绪水平高于女性（15 - 19%）。相比之下，青少年女性自我报告的易怒心境（29%，95%置信区间26 - 31）高于男性（23%，95%置信区间20 - 25）和家长报告的水平。青少年女性自我报告的易怒情绪与更多的情绪问题（易怒心境：b = 0.27，标准误 = 0.10，p = 0.011；发脾气：b = 0.25，标准误 = 0.11，p = 0.022）及功能损害（易怒心境：b = 0.31，标准误 = 0.10，p = 0.001；发脾气：b = 0.31，标准误 = 0.08，p < 0.001）相关。与男性相比，青少年女性的易怒心境与精神障碍的更高增加率相关（b = 0.35，标准误 = 0.15，p = 0.020）。
年龄、性别和报告者是易怒情绪报告中异质性的来源，在评估和理解与易怒情绪相关的精神病理学问题时必须予以考虑。有必要进行纵向设计研究，对广泛年龄范围内的易怒情绪进行全面评估，以阐明其发展轨迹以及与其他精神病理症状的因果关系。
