Many of the future developments in child psychiatric epidemiology predicted 25 years ago by Earls7 have clearly been fulfilled during the past few decades. A recent comprehensive review of the field of child psychiatric epidemiology8 noted that the number of observations in community surveys of children and adolescents has risen from 10 000 in studies published between 1980 and 1993 to nearly 40 000 from 21 studies published between 1993 and 2002.9 The results of these studies indicate that about one out of every three to four youths is estimated to meet lifetime criteria for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) mental disorder.8 However, only a small proportion of these youth actually have sufficiently severe distress or impairment to warrant intervention.10 About one out of every ten youths is estimated to meet the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) criteria for a Serious Emotional Disturbance (SRD),9,10 defined as a mental health problem that has a drastic impact on a child's ability to function socially, academically, and emotionally.11
