Behavioural and emotional disorders in childhood: A brief overview for paediatricians
Pediatric clinics are the fastest place to catch autism, ADHD, and anxiety—know the short red-flag list and act.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ogundele (2018) wrote a plain-language map for pediatricians. He pulled DSM-5 and ICD-10 checklists for autism, ADHD, and anxiety. He showed how these disorders look in a busy clinic and why early spotting matters.
No new data were collected; the paper is a walk-through guide, not an experiment.
What they found
The review found that behavior and emotional disorders are common, often missed, and easiest to catch where kids already go—the pediatric clinic.
Red flags include poor eye contact, constant movement, or extreme shyness that blocks daily routines.
How this fits with other research
Goodwin et al. (2012) came first and told doctors exactly when to screen: every child at 18 and 24 months for autism. Ogundele widens the lens to ADHD and anxiety, but keeps the same message—use routine visits.
Manohar et al. (2019) took the next step. After pediatricians spotted toddlers with ASD, they tested a five-session parent-coaching plan in India. Kids improved and parent stress dropped, showing the hand-off from detection to treatment can be brief and cheap.
Amore et al. (2011) showed parents and ABA tutors fixing feeding problems at home. Ogundele’s overview helps pediatricians notice food refusal as a possible autism sign and then refer to services like those in M et al.
Why it matters
You already see kids every day for shots and colds. Keep the DSM-5/ICD-10 red-flag list on your tablet. When a parent says “He won’t look at me” or “She can’t sit still,” pause, score the symptom, and refer. One extra minute can move a child from worry to therapy months earlier.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Mental health problems in children and adolescents include several types of emotional and behavioural disorders, including disruptive, depression, anxiety and pervasive developmental (autism) disorders, characterized as either internalizing or externalizing problems. Disruptive behavioural problems such as temper tantrums, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional, defiant or conduct disorders are the commonest behavioural problems in preschool and school age children. The routine Paediatric clinic or Family Medicine/General Practitioner surgery presents with several desirable characteristics that make them ideal for providing effective mental health services to children and adolescents. DSM-5 and ICD-10 are the universally accepted standard criteria for the classification of mental and behaviour disorders in childhood and adults. The age and gender prevalence estimation of various childhood behavioural disorders are variable and difficult to compare worldwide. A review of relevant published literature was conducted, including published meta-analyses and national guidelines. We searched for articles indexed by Ovid, PubMed, PubMed Medical Central, CINAHL, EMBASE, Database of Abstracts and Reviews, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews and other online sources. The searches were conducted using a combination of search expressions including “childhood”, “behaviour”, “disorders” or “problems”. Childhood behaviour and emotional problems with their related disorders have significant negative impacts on the individual, the family and the society. They are commonly associated with poor academic, occupational, and psychosocial functioning. It is important for all healthcare professionals, especially the Paediatricians to be aware of the range of presentation, prevention and management of the common mental health problems in children and adolescents.
World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics, 2018 · doi:10.5409/wjcp.v7.i1.9