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Life events and psychiatric referral in children: comparison with a general population

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Summary

This study compared life events in two groups: referrals to a Child Psychiatric Clinic and a randomly selected control group matched for age and sex. The referral group had significantly more life events occurring and higher mean stress scores. In the 5 -12 year old section, failure of a class in school, increase in number of arguments with parents and decrease in number of arguments between parents were all associated with increased likelihood of referral.

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Dooley, E., Fitzgerald, M. Life events and psychiatric referral in children: comparison with a general population. I.J.M.S. 153, 310–315 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02939891

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