Prevalence of Dual Diagnoses among Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Conditions

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organisation defines dual diagnosis as the co-occurrence in the same individual of a psychoactive substance use disorder and another psychiatric disorder. Children and adolescents with dual diagnoses represent a significant public health burden in social and financial terms. Aims: The objective of the present paper is to provide a review of studies dealing with dual diagnoses and their prevalence among children and adolescents whose primary treatment involves psychiatric conditions. Methods: The PRISMA was used to conduct a systematic search. Articles published between January 2010 and May 2022 were searched for analysis. Results: Eight articles were eventually found eligible for the final content analysis. The analysis of the articles identified the prevalence of dual diagnoses among children and adolescents treated primarily for psychiatric conditions, the gender-specific occurrence of dual diagnoses, methods used to diagnose psychiatric and substance use disorders, types of psychiatric diagnoses involved in dual diagnoses, and prevalence differences contingent on the type of service provision as the main thematic areas. The prevalence of dual diagnoses among the target population ranged from 18.3% to 54% (mean 32.7%). Boys were more likely to experience dual diagnoses and affective disorders were the most frequent psychiatric diagnoses. Conclusion: The importance of the issue and the high prevalence of dual diagnoses make it imperative that this type of research is pursued.