Long-term follow-up of infants at child guidance clinics in Stockholm

Abstract

From 1953 through 1955 a total of 2364 individuals between 0 and 18 years were discharged from the Stockholm Child Guidance Clinics. Among these patients 125 (68 boys, 57 girls) were under the age of 3 years. A follow-up study was conducted on this sample using records from psychiatric clinics and data from official registers of problematic behaviours. The majority of the infants when seen at the Child Guidance Clinics were judged to be mentally healthy or to have shown mild environmental reactions. However, 60% of these patients were identified in at least one of the registers during the follow-up period. Thus, the initial evaluation was not prognostic of future development. Boys developed mainly social maladjustment, whereas girls more often applied for psychiatric care during the follow-up. Significant prognostic factors in the 1950s were gender and parental psychiatric diagnosis.