Last update:
10-Sep-2004

The presence of increased comorbidity in child psychiatry is considered to be a frequent phenomenon. It has been suggested that learning disorders constitute the outcome of a continuum of mental disorders which follow the individual through life and are associated with a wide spectrum of mental disorders. Usually children with learning disorders experience more stress and they have feelings of intense loneliness and anger and show less "tolerance to frustration". They may present personality disorders, epilepsy and the Gilles de la Tourette disorder. The most significant research interest has focused on the relationship between learning disorders and the hyperactive syndrome, emotional disorders and conduct disorders. Studies carried out since the 1970s, have confirmed that there is an association between learning disorders and hyperactivity, and also that the presence of attention deficit is irrespective of hyperactivity. The degree of comorbidity between learning disorders and the hyperactive syndrome varies between 10-92%. Follow-up studies have shown that academic and learning difficulties in hyperactive children persist through adolescence and are associated with school failure and drop-out. In Greece the results of analogous studies are ambiguous, and most of the findings do not concur with the international literature. Children with learning disorders usually present conduct disorders and vice versa. These observations have been confirmed by numerous studies, resulting in a dominating view that the children with learning disorders incline towards delinquency. The risk of development of delinquency in children with learning disorders appears to be increased during adolescence and is associated with academic failure, drop-out, low socio-economic status, and certain particular personality characteristics, such as impulsiveness and emotional instability. Nevertheless, the association between learning disorders and delinquency is not totally accepted, from the point of view either of its extent or more particularly of its causal connection. In adult life there has not been found an increase in the percentage of delinquency and it has been suggested that the increase in delinquency in adolescence is associated more with reactions limited in time and less with stable psychopathological characteristics. Frequently, children with learning disorders present emotional disorders which range from simple stress to major depressive disorder, attempted suicide or suicide. These children may also present low self-esteem, discouragement and depressive feelings. Their identity is usually organized around feelings of weakness, inadequacy and incompetence, resulting in a negative self image. Depression is the most frequent associated diagnosis and major depressive disorder may be seven times more common in these children than in the average child population. It has also been suggested that particular aspects of learning disorders (non-verbal) are directly associated with an increased risk of suicide. The danger of the suicide has been associated with persistence of learning disorders in adolescence.

Key words: Attention deficit disorder, Comorbidity, Conduct disorders, Delinquency, Depression, Learning disorders, Hyperactivity.