The importance of age and maturity must always be taken into consideration when looking at childhood disorders.  Will problems continue with age?  Between 14 and 20% of children will suffer from moderate to severe psychological problems (which may cause them to miss out on close personal relationships).  Another important fact to note is that 40% of children with a disorder have more than one psychological disturbance at the same time.  However, the rate of disorders for adults is much lower, this means that with proper treatment, those who suffer from the disorders can be helped.

Males tend to outnumber females in disruptive behavior disorders (ex: conduct disorder and ADHD).  These disorders have symptoms that directly affect others in negative ways.  Females have a higher rate of eating disorders, depression and anxiety, which are the disorders that have worse effects on the sufferer.  Because of the gender differences in childhood disorders, physical and social context should also be considered when deciding whether a child has a behavior problem or is just reacting to a specific situation.

Normal psychological development proceeds at varying rates for each child, which makes childhood disorders much more predictable than adult disorders.  It is difficult for kids to communicate their problems, so symptoms must be looked for.  Because the tolerance level for behavior varies by culture there are different measurements for how much of a certain behavior is considered a problem.

There are four main types of disorders and they are Emotional, Developmental, Eating Habit, and Behavioral  Disorder.

The emotional disorders involve a lot of continuous stress about the way a child sees reality. Each emotional disorder has a specific age at which it must occur. anxiety states, mood disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and phobias, feelings of inferiority, self-consciousness, social withdrawal, shyness, fear and sadness.

Other disorders impair the child's cognitive functioning but not necessarily their social relationships.

Eating and Habit: repetitive, maladaptive or non-functional behaviors involving disruption in the individual's pattern of eating, elimination, movement or communication.  Eating Disorders can either be polar extreme (excessive or dramatic reductions in food intake), Habit disorders impair basic human development (i.e. socially appropriate behaviors; problems with elimination - enuresis and encopresis; problems with  communication - stuttering and tic disorders)

Eating:

Elimination:

Movement/Communication: