The prevalence of dual diagnoses in children and adolescents with substance use disorders, systematic review

ABSTRACT

Background

The objective of this paper is to present a systematic review of studies dealing with the prevalence of dual diagnoses among children and adolescents with substance use disorders. The main objective of the study is to describe prevalence of dual diagnoses and to identify the relevant topics.

Methods

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews protocol and guidelines were used to conduct the systematic review. The EBSCO, Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched for relevant articles published in English between 2010 and 2020.

Results

The areas of interest were identified as (a) prevalence of dual diagnoses among substance-using children and adolescents, (b) methods for diagnosing psychiatric conditions, (c) psychiatric comorbidity diagnoses, (d) types of substances used, (e) differences between outpatient and inpatient participants. Literature on dual diagnoses in children and adolescents is scarce. The mean prevalence of dual diagnoses in target population with substance use disorders was 59.6%. As the most common psychiatric disorders, the studies indicate conduct disorders, anxiety and depressive disorders. We suggest that further research with study designs included valid diagnostic tools.

Conclusion

The care of the target group should be provided with the respect of high prevalence of dual diagnoses.

KEYWORDS:

• Substance use disorders
• dual diagnosis
• children
• adolescents

Authors’ contributions

Tomáš Jandáč is the main and corresponding author. He suggested the methods. Lenka Šťastná supervised the study and was involved in the drafting of the Discussion sections. Richard Pates supervised the study. All the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by the Charles University, project GA UK [No. 484120] and included within Specific Academic Research Project (SVV) [No. 260500].