An unusually high prevalence of psychiatric problems and behavioural disorders found in a group of children over 10 years ago has proved in general to be transitory and without any serious long-term impact.
This is the finding of a follow-up study published yesterday by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs.
A study of 185 children in west Dublin in 1990 found that some 16 per cent showed evidence of clinically significant psychiatric disorder.
The problems were linked to the economic circumstances of the family.
However, the results of a 10- year follow-up found that for most the psychiatric and conduct disorder evident when they were 11 years old did not remain into adulthood.
"However, early behavioural and/or psychological disorder in the child did impact on educational progress, especially if this was combined with economic disadvantage," the study found.
"Economic resources compensated for IQ deficiencies, and children from better-off families, whatever their intellectual capacity, were more likely to access higher education levels", the report, which was written by Ms Anne Cleary and Ms Elizabeth Nixon of UCD and Prof Michael Fitzgerald of TCD, says.
However, the authors warn that around 20 per cent of the original 1990 respondents could not be traced.
