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Biomedical subjects

D R Offord

Publications and source records attributed to D R Offord.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Ontario child health study: social and school impairments in children aged 6 to 16 years.

This study reports on informant-specific prevalence rates and the relationship with psychiatric disorder of social and school impairments in a community sample of children, 6 to 16 years of age, in Ontario. Prevalence rates ranged from less than 1% to over 18% depending on informant, and there was a low level of agreement between informants. Although impairments were strongly related to psychiatric disorder, there were many children with impairments and no psychiatric disorder or psychiatric disorder with no impairments. Implications of these results are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Outcome, prognosis, and risk in a longitudinal follow-up study.

This study reports the results of a 4-year follow-up of a community sample of children who were ages 4 to 12 in 1983 at the first wave of data collection. Results on outcomes revealed that conduct disorder showed the greatest stability especially from late childhood to early adolescence. In multivariate analyses, both family dysfunction and problems getting along with others significantly predicted the persistence of one or more psychiatric disorders 4 years later, and low income predicted one or more psychiatric disorders among children free of disorder 4 years earlier. The implications of the results for the child psychiatric field, especially prevention, are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Predicting substance use in late adolescence: results from the Ontario Child Health Study follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs (substance use) and psychiatric disorder in early adolescence and substance use in late adolescence. METHOD: Adolescents included in the study were identified by means of a household sampling frame and participated in the Ontario Child Health Study in 1983 and the follow-up in 1987. There were 726 12-16-year-olds (369 boys and 357 girls) in 1983 who had complete information in 1987. Data on substance use were collected from adolescents by using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Data on psychiatric disorder were collected in 1983 from both adolescents and their parents by using problem checklists to assess conduct disorder, attention deficit disorder, and emotional disorder. RESULTS: Prior substance use in 1983 was associated strongly with subsequent use in 1987. Among the psychiatric disorders assessed in 1983, only conduct disorder made an independent contribution to predicting use of marijuana (relative odds = 3.46) and other hard drugs (relative odds = 6.82) in 1987, after prior use of these substances and coexisting attention deficit and emotional disorders were controlled. Corresponding estimates of attributable risk (the expected contribution of exposure to conduct disorder to the development of substance use) were 5.7% and 11.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although a statistically significant relationship existed between conduct disorder in early adolescence and use of marijuana and hard drugs in late adolescence, the potential is limited for preventing substance use in the general population by treating conduct disorder early on.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Psychiatric disorders in adopted children: a profile from the Ontario Child Health Study.

Studies of clinical populations suggest that adopted children are overrepresented among children using mental health facilities, whereas studies using non clinical populations of adopted children have reached mixed conclusions about whether or not there is an increased psychological risk associated with adoption. Data from the Ontario Child Health Study, a community survey of children aged four to 16 years, which included a subpopulation of adopted children, were used to: 1. profile the characteristics of adoptive families; 2. examine the strength of adoptive status as a marker for psychiatric and educational morbidity; and 3. determine the extent to which adoptive status has an independent relationship with psychiatric and educational morbidities. The findings were: 1. adoptive mothers were significantly older than non adoptive mothers, but otherwise adoptive families did not differ significantly from non adoptive families, 2. adoption in boys, but not in girls, was a significant marker for psychiatric disorder and poor school performance; adoption in adolescent girls was a significant marker for substance use; and 3. multivariate analyses demonstrated no independent effect of adoption on psychiatric disorder or poor school performance; for adolescents, adoptive status did have an independent relationship with substance use for girls. The implications of these findings will be discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1979

On being the offspring of an alcoholic: an update.

Reporting on research advances in a previous review of the literature, this article discusses the relative lack of controlled and prospective studies, the need for more treatment resources, the vulnerability of children of alcoholic parents compared to those of parents with other psychiatric diagnoses, and speculates on the sources of strength of the competent child of alcoholic parents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

The offspring of alcoholics: a critical review.

In their review of the literature on the effects of parental alcoholism on the offspring of alcoholics, the authors focus on sample collection, criteria used for the diagnosis of parental alcoholism, and definitions of "emotional disturbances." Studies are grouped according to age of offspring; within each age group, the various approaches to the issue are described. The authors suggest a need for more carefully controlled studies using blind data collection and clear operational definitions. In addition, the "risk" status of offspring of alcoholics should be compared to that of children whose parents have other types of serious psychiatric disturbance. Although the literature has focused on the "casualties," the authors note that much could be learned from studies of the "successes"--those children who do not seem to be at increased risk for pychosocial illness despite the alcoholism of their parents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

A study of student attitudes toward a psychiatric clerkship.

Sixty-seven third-year medical students at the University of Ottawa were interviewed at the beginning and end of a month-long clerkship in psychiatry. Two attitude categories were designated: "attitude-positive" (AP) differentiated subjects with positive clerkship expectations or attitudes for "attitude-negative" (AN) subjects who had negative expectations or attitudes. Differences between preclerkship APs and ANs are described. Postclerkship interviews revealed a general improvement in attitudes toward psychiatry and the psychiatric clerkship. Statistically significant differences were noted between postclerkship APs and ANs in the following: attitudes toward psychiatry, attainment of preclerkship objectives, reduction of anxiety levels, and nature of supervisory experiences. Postclerkship attitudes may be predicted to some extent prior to the clerkship. The potential for a negative postclerkship attitude may be modified by positive clerkship experiences. The importance of identifying students vulnerable to the stresses of psychiatric clerkship is emphasized.

Anxiety↗