Medicaid-insured children received substantial mental health services and had prolonged exposure to psychotropic medications in the early years of life, according to a recent study. A cohort design was applied to computerized Medicaid administrative claims data for 35,244 children born in a mid-Atlantic state in 2007 (17,267 girls, 17,977 boys) and followed up for up to 96 months through December 31, 2014. The cohort represents 92.2% of 38,225 Medicaid-insured newborns in 2007. Researchers found:

• By age 8 years, 4,550 children in the birth cohort (19.7%) had received a psychiatric diagnosis; 2,624 of these diagnoses (57.7%) were behavioral.
• Girls were more likely than boys to receive an incident psychiatric diagnosis of adjustment disorder (355 of 1,598 [22.2%] vs 427 of 2,952 [14.5%]) or anxiety disorder (114 of 1,598 [7.1%] vs 120 of 2,952 [4.1%]).
• By age 8 years, 2,196 children in the cohort (10.2%) had received a psychotropic medication.
• Among medication users, 1,763 of 2,196 (80.5%) received monotherapy, 343 of 2,196 (16.4%) received 2 medication classes concomitantly, and 90 of 2,196 (4.3%) received ≥3 medication classes concomitantly for ≥60 days.