The Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders Among Children and Adolescents in Southern Khorasan Province, Iran

background: children and adolescents are the potential capitals of communities. therefore, their physical, mental, social, and spiritual health is of great importance. objectives: this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in southern khorasan province, iran. methods: this cross-sectional descriptive-correlational study was conducted in 2017. study population consisted of children and adolescents aged 6–18 who lived in southern khorasan province, iran. a sample of 1029 children and adolescents was selected through multistage cluster sampling. data were collected using the kiddie schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia- present and lifetime version (k-sads-pl) and analyzed using the spss software (v. 19.0) and by conducting the fisher’s exact test. results: the overall prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in southern khorasan province, iran, was 15.2%. the prevalence of these disorders among male and female participants was 15.5% and 14.8%, respectively. moreover, the prevalence was 13.1% in the 6 - 9 age group, 15.5% in the 10 - 14 age group, and 17% in the 15 - 18 age group. in addition, the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among participants who lived in urban and rural areas was 18.9% and 6.3%, respectively. the most prevalent psychiatric disorders were respectively separation anxiety (5.2%), obsessive-compulsive disorder (3.5%), generalized anxiety disorder (3%), enuresis (2.9%), oppositional defiant disorder (2.4%), depression, special phobias, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (1.6%), agoraphobia (1%), and social phobia (0.8%). conclusions: need-based age-appropriate mental health services are needed to promote mental health among children and adolescents.