Specific learning difficulties: a retrospective study of their co morbidity and continuity as early indicators of mental disorders.

Background: Specific Learning difficulties constitute a continuity of complex disorders, which unfold across the lifespan and are associated with a wide range of mental disorders. In order to determine the importance of specific learning difficulties as an underlying factor in various mental disorders, we investigated associations between mental disorders and factors related to learning difficulties, poor family and school environment, and social and psycho-emotional disorders.

Methods: This retrospective study is based on data from 835 case histories of adults who were treated at the Psychiatric Clinic of the University Hospital in Ioannina, Greece, between 1992 and 2008.