Mental disorders in former street-working boys
Nezar Ismet Taib, Hans Arinell, Caisa Öster, Mia Ramklint

TL;DR
This study examines how mental disorders in street-working boys from childhood persist or change into adulthood.
Contribution
The study provides longitudinal data on the continuity of mental disorders in street-working children from Duhok City.
Findings
Mental disorders were common, with 60% diagnosed at baseline and 70% at follow-up.
Anxiety disorders showed homotypic continuity, while depressive disorders increased over time.
The number of childhood mental disorders predicted adult disorders, but not childhood trauma or work duration.
Abstract
The continuity of mental disorders in street-working children is rarely studied. This study therefore investigated homotypic continuity, recurrence of the same disorder, and heterotypic continuity, when a new disorder follows on the previous, of mental disorders from childhood to adulthood in street-working boys from Duhok City, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Mental disorders were assessed by structured diagnostic interviews in 40 street-working boys in 2004–2005 and again in 2021, when the participants’ mean ages were 12.1 (SD 1.8) and 29.7 (SD 2.3), respectively. Mental disorders were common; 24 participants (60%) satisfied the criteria for at least one diagnosis at baseline and 28 (70%) at follow-up. Comorbidity increased from 1.2 (SD 1.4) disorders initially to 2.5 (SD 1.8) at follow-up. Only anxiety disorders showed homotypic continuity. Depressive disorders exhibited the greatest…
Genes, proteins, chemicals, diseases, species, mutations and cell lines named across the full text — each resolved to its canonical identifier and authoritative record.
Click any figure to enlarge with its caption.
Figure 1Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsHomelessness and Social Issues · Migration, Health and Trauma · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
