Gender difference: Does play a role in the admitting diagnosis in adolescents in a residential treatment center

Psychiatric diagnosing is one of the first steps towards treating a client. Many variables can influence a client's diagnosis including gender. Much more research is needed in the area of gender differences particularly with adolescents in treatment. The DSM-IV-TR recognizes that there are gender features in disorders and lists them for assistance. This study examined a population of adolescents that reside in a residential treatment center and attempted to discover if there was a gender bias in the admitting diagnosis between males and females. It was predicted that upon admission the male adolescents were diagnosed with more of the behavior disorders, particularly Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, than their female counterparts. Another purpose of this study was to examine the population in general and describe the adolescents that are commonly admitted for intensive mental health services. The results revealed many descriptive features of this population including the median age at admittance, prevalence by gender, legal involvement and ethnicity. The mean age of admittance was 15 years old and the next most common admittance age was 16. The results also showed that Hispanic males were admitted more than any other ethnicity and that they were diagnosed with Conduct Disorder.