Psychiatric assessment of adoptees with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in childhood and young adulthood
| DSM-IV diagnosis | |
| Childhood* | (n=37) |
| Any disorder | 30 (81) |
| Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder | 23 (62) |
| Oppositional defiant disorder | 16 (43) |
| Developmental coordination disorder | 15 (41) |
| Tic disorder | 5 (14) |
| Autism | 2 (5) |
| Conduct disorder | 2 (5) |
| Obsessive compulsive disorder | 1 (3) |
| Adulthood† | (n=33) |
| Any disorder | 29 (88) |
| Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder | 23 (70) |
| Any anxiety disorder | 17 (52) |
| Social phobia | 8 (24) |
| Panic disorder | 7 (21) |
| Generalised anxiety disorder | 7 (21) |
| Agoraphobia | 5 (15) |
| Three or more disorders‡ | 16 (48) |
| Any depressive episode | 14 (42) |
| Self-injurious behaviour | 8 (24) |
| Suicide attempt | 7 (21) |
| Autism | 4 (12) |
| Substance use disorder | 4 (12) |
| Manic or hypomanic episode | 3 (9) |
| Antisocial personality disorder | 2 (6) |
| Obsessive compulsive disorder | 2 (6) |
| Eating disorder | 2 (6) |
| Psychotic disorder | 1 (3) |
| CGI-S score§ | |
| 1=normal | 2 (6) |
| 2–3=borderline to mildly ill | 5 (15) |
| 4–5=moderately to markedly ill | 6 (18) |
| 6–7=severely to extremely ill | 21 (62) |
Data are presented as numbers (and percentages).
*Childhood diagnosis was based on evaluation by a paediatrician, psychologist and ophthalmologist.
†The diagnostic rationale is described under ‘Methods’.
‡In the composite measure of ‘three or more disorders’, multiple anxiety disorders in the same individual are considered as one. Suicide attempt and self-injurious behaviour are not included.
§See (online supplementary appendix S1) for the scoring rationale and clinical vignettes.
CGI-S, Clinical Global Impression -Severity; DSM-IV, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition.