From adventures to diagnosis: adolescent behavior in classic fiction through the eyes of newly licensed Czech psychiatrists - a vignette study
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11110%2F25%3A10498632" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11110/25:10498632 - isvavai.cz</a>
Alternative codes found
RIV/00216208:11140/25:10498632
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=2MJb5ycaJe" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=2MJb5ycaJe</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1592912" target="_blank" >10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1592912</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
From adventures to diagnosis: adolescent behavior in classic fiction through the eyes of newly licensed Czech psychiatrists - a vignette study
Original language description
Introduction Youth mental health is a growing concern, with reports of psychiatric diagnoses becoming increasingly prevalent. Among other factors, psychiatrization may inflate the observed prevalence by interpreting experiences previously understood as adversities inherent to human life as symptoms of psychopathology. The current study explores the pathologization of behaviors typical of adolescence by asking contemporary psychiatrists to diagnose and treat a character from a novel who is considered a prototypical teenager of the 19th century: Tom Sawyer. Methods A one-page vignette was distributed either in sealed envelopes or via email to 57 psychiatrists who had obtained their license for independent practice between 2021 and 2023 in the Czech Republic. In total, 47 psychiatrists took part, yielding an overall response rate of 82%. The number and frequency of diagnostic conclusions, prescribed medications, and recommended interventions are reported.Results Most respondents diagnosed the boy described in the vignette with a psychiatric disorder (94%; CI = 81-98%) and recommended an intervention within the healthcare system (89%; CI =76-96%). Two thirds (62%, CI = 46-75%) recommended pharmacotherapy: antidepressants (27%), antipsychotics (22%), stimulants (13%), and anxiolytics (2%); 68% (53-80%) recommended psychotherapy. Nonmedical interventions (e.g., counseling, social services) were recommended by 49%.Conclusions The experiences of an adolescent boy, once interpreted as normative "adventures" in the 19th century, were recognized by newly certified psychiatrists as psychiatric disorder. These findings illustrate the extent of psychiatrization over time and suggest that expert diagnoses may substantially contribute to the overinterpretation of problems of living as psychiatric disorders.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
30215 - Psychiatry
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach<br>I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Frontiers in Psychiatry
ISSN
1664-0640
e-ISSN
1664-0640
Volume of the periodical
16
Issue of the periodical within the volume
23 May
Country of publishing house
CH - SWITZERLAND
Number of pages
8
Pages from-to
1592912
UT code for WoS article
001503832200001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105007523398