Abstract
Nearly all studies on the co-morbidity between enuresis and psychopathology in children suggest an increased prevalence of behavioural disorders in general and of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in particular. Depending strongly on characteristics of the study design, the extent to which this prevalence is increased fluctuates heavily. In the current literature review we found a lack of standardization in the definitions of both enuresis and psychopathology, which makes comparison of research findings difficult. A series of confounding factors that possibly bias study results is also covered. Psychopathology in enuresis seems to be associated with older age, male gender, low socio-economic status and admission to specialized (university) paediatric clinics. Research that fails to report or to control for these factors will not be able to make generalizations to the total population of enuretic children. It is highly important for paediatricians to be aware of the effect of these methodological factors in order to read critically and appreciate the co-morbidity studies on the one hand and to understand better the association between enuresis and psychopathology on the other hand. Future research would benefit from diagnoses based on international diagnostic classification systems made within a well-defined sample.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach TM (1991) Manual for the child behavioral checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt
American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn, text revision. APA, Washington, DC
Baeyens D, Roeyers H, Hoebeke P, Verté S, Van Hoecke E, Vande Walle J (2004) Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children with nocturnal enuresis. J Urol 171:2576–2579
Bhatia MS, Nigam VR, Bohra N, Malik C (1991) Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity among pediatric outpatients. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 32:297–306
Biederman J, Santangelo SL, Faraone SV, Kiely K, Guite J, Mick E, Reed ED, Kraus I, Jellinek M., Perrin J (1995) Clinical correlates of enuresis in ADHD and non-ADHD children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 36:865–877
Biederman J., Faraone SV, Monuteaux MC (2002) Differential effect of environmental adversity by gender: Rutter’s index of adversity in a group of boys and girls with and without ADHD. Am J Psychiatry 158:1556–1562
Butler RJ (1998) Annotation. night wetting in children: psychological aspects. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 39:453–463
Byrd RS, Weitzman M, Lanphear NE, Auinger P (1996) Bedwetting in US children: epidemiology and related behavioral problems. Pediatrics 98:414–419
Chang SSY, Ng CFN, Wong SN (2002) Behavioral problems in children and parenting stress associated with primary nocturnal enuresis in Hong Kong. Acta Paediatr 91:475–479
Cher TW, Lin GJ, Hsu KH (2002) Prevalence of nocturnal enuresis and associated familial factors in primary school children in Taiwan. J Urol 168:1142–1146
Duel BP, Steinberg-Epstein R, Hill M, Lerner M (2003) A survey of voiding dysfunction in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. J Urol 170:1521–1524
Faraone S, Biederman J, Weber W, Russell R (1998) Psychiatric, neuropsychological, and psychosocial features of DSM-IV subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders: results from a clinically referred sample. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 37:185–193
Feehan M, McGee R, Stanton W, Silva PA (1990) A 6 year follow-up of childhood enuresis: prevalence in adolescence and consequences for mental health. J Paediatr Child Health 26:75–79
Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ (1994) Nocturnal enuresis and behavioral problems in adolescence: a 15-year longitudinal study. Pediatrics 94:662–667
Friman PC, Handwerk ML, Swearer SM, McGinnis JC, Warzak WJ (1998) Do children with primary nocturnal enuresis have clinically significant behavioral problems? Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 152:537–539
Hechtman L (2000) Assessment and diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 9:481-487
Hirasing RA, van Leerdam FJM, Bolk-Bennink LB, Bosch JD (1997) Bedwetting and behavioral and/or emotional problems. Acta Paediatr 86:1131–1134
Hjälmas K, Arnold T, Bower W, Caione P, Chiozza LM, von Gontard A, Han SW, Husman A, Kawauchi A, Läckgren G, Lottmann H, Mark S, Rittig S, Robson L, Vande Walle J, Yeung CK (2004). Nocturnal enuresis: an international evidence based management strategy. J Urol 171:2545–2561
Kodman-Jones C, Hawkins L, Schulman SL (2001) Behavioral characteristics of children with daytime wetting J Urol 166:2392–2395
Lettgen B, Von Gontard A, Olbing H, Heiken-Löwenau E, Gaebel E, Schmitz I (2002) Urge incontinence and voiding postponement in children: somatic and psychosocial factors. Acta Paediatr 91:978–984
Liu X, Zhenxiao S, Uchiyama M, Li Y, Okawa M (2000) Attaining nocturnal urinary control, nocturnal enuresis, and behavioral problems in Chinese children, aged 6 through 16 years. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39:1557–1564
Longstaffe S, Moffat MEK, Whalen JC (2000) Behavioral and self-concept changes after six months of enuresis treatment: a randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics 105:935–940
Moilanen I, Tirkkonen T, Järvelin MR, Linna SL, Almqvist F, Piha, J, Räsänen E, Tamminen T (1998) A follow-up study from childhood to adolescence. Br J Urol 81:94–97
Norgaard JP, van Gool JD, Hjalmas K, Djurhuus JC, Hellstrom AL (1998) Standardization and definitions in lower urinary tract dysfunction in children. Br J Urol 81:1–16
Ornitz EM, Russell AT, Hanna GL, Gabikian P, Gehricke JG, Song D, Guthrie, D. (1999) Prepulse inhibition of startle and the neurobiology of primary nocturnal enuresis. Biol Psychiatry 45:1455-1466
Rey JM, Hensley VR (1995) Bedwetting and psychopathology in adolescents. J Paediatr Child Health 31:508–512
Robson WL, Jackson HP, Blackhurst D, Leung ARC (1997) Enuresis in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. South Med J 90:503–505
Steinhausen H-C, Göbel D (1989) Enuresis in child psychiatric clinic patients. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 28:279–281
Taylor E, Dopfner M, Sergeant J, Asherson P, Banaschewski T, Buitelaar J, Coghill D, Danckaerts M, Rothenberger A, Sonuga-Barke E, Steinhausen HC, Zuddas A (2004) European guidelines for hyperkinetic disorder—first upgrade. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 13:I7–30
Van Hoecke E, Baeyens D, Vande Walle J, Hoebeke P, Roeyers H (2003) Socio-economic status as a common factor underlying enuresis and psychopathology. J Dev Behav Pediatr 24:109–114
Von Gontard A, Lettgen B, Olbing H, Heiken-Löwenau C, Gaebel E, Schmitz I (1998) Behavioral problems in children with urge incontinence and voiding postponement: a comparison of a pediatric and child psychiatric sample. Br J Urol 81:100–106
Von Gontard A, Mauer-Mucke K, Plück J, Berner W, Lehmkuhl G (1999) Clinical behavioral problems in day- and night-wetting children. Pediatr Nephrol 13:662–667
Wagner WG, Smith D, Norris WR (1988) The psychological adjustment of enuretic children: a comparison of two types. J Pediatr Psychol 13:33–38
Wille S, Anveden I (1995) Social and behavioral perspectives in enuretics, former enuretics and non-enuretic controls. Acta Paediatr 84:37–40
World Health Organization (1992) ICD-10 international statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th edn. World Health Organization, Geneva
Acknowledgements
This paper was prepared with the support of a doctoral fellowship awarded to Dieter Baeyens by the Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baeyens, D., Roeyers, H., Vande Walle, J. et al. Behavioural problems and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children with enuresis: a literature review. Eur J Pediatr 164, 665–672 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-005-1712-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-005-1712-1