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. 2018 Mar 12;18(1):65.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-018-1647-5.

Prevalence and stability of mental disorders among young adults: findings from a longitudinal study

Kristin Gustavson  1   2 , Ann Kristin Knudsen  3   4 , Ragnar Nesvåg  5   6 , Gun Peggy Knudsen  7 , Stein Emil Vollset  3 , Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud  5   8
Affiliations

Prevalence and stability of mental disorders among young adults: findings from a longitudinal study

Kristin Gustavson et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Mental disorders often have onset early in life, contribute substantially to the global disease burden, and may interfere with young people's ability to complete age-relevant tasks in important developmental periods. However, knowledge about prevalence and course of mental disorders in young adulthood is sparse. The aim of the current study was to estimate prevalence and stability of mental disorders from the twenties to the thirties/forties.

Methods: DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview in two waves (1999-2004 and 2010-2011) in 1623 young adult Norwegian twins (63.2% women, aged 19-29 years in wave 1).

Results: In wave 1, the 12-month prevalence of any mental disorder among people in the twenties was 19.8% (men) and 32.4% (women), anxiety disorders: 9.6% (men) and 26.7% (women), anxiety disorders excluding specific phobias: 2.5% (men) and 6.9% (women), major depressive disorder (MDD): 4.4% (men) and 7.2% (women), and alcohol use disorder (AUD): 8.7% (men) and 4.4% (women). The prevalence of any mental disorder decreased from the twenties to the thirties/forties. This was due to a decrease in AUD and specific phobias. Anxiety disorders in the twenties predicted anxiety disorders and MDD ten years later, even when controlling for the association between these disorders in the twenties. MDD in the twenties predicted MDD ten years later. At both ages, two-week and 12-month prevalence estimates differed markedly for MDD - indicating an episodic course.

Conclusions: Common mental disorders are highly prevalent among young adults in the twenties, and somewhat less prevalent in the thirties/forties. Those who suffer from one mental disorder in the twenties are at considerably increased risk for suffering from a disorder ten years later as well. This may have significant implications for young people's ability to attain education, establish a family, and participate in occupational life.

Keywords: Health surveys; Mental disorders; Prevalence; Stability; Young adulthood.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Participants provided written informed consent. The name of the ethics review board that approved of our study is “The regional committee for medical and health research ethics, South East D”. (Reference number: 2010/767).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow-chart of recruitment to the study. The current study used data from the two interview studies, indicated with bold font
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Combinations of disorders in hypothetical groups of 100 men and 100 women at different ages. Legend: MDD = major depressive disorder, Anxiety = Any anxiety disorder W1–2 (Panic disorder, agoraphobia without panic, specific phobias, social phobia and/or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)), AUD = alcohol use disorder (i.e. alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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