Psychiatric morbidity in children remanded to prison custody—a pilot study

Of the 1680 boys aged 15 and 16 remanded into prison custody in England and Wales during 1999, approximately 40% had histories of being “looked after”. It is known that “Looked after” children in the community have very high rates of psychiatric disorder. This pilot study aimed to establish the psychiatric morbidity in children remanded to prison custody using an age appropriate instrument, the K-SADS. The 19 boys interviewed showed high rates of affective disorders, substance misuse and conduct disorder. As hypothesized those who had been “looked after” had significantly higher rates. This study highlights the need to develop child and adolescent mental health services for children in prison. Copyright 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.