Hallucinations in children with conduct and emotional disorders: II. The follow-up study.

In a controlled study, 20 children with hallucinations and emotional or conduct disorders were followed up into adulthood. The mean follow-up time was 17 years and the mean age at follow-up was 30 years. Hallucinations in childhood did not carry an increased risk for psychoses, depressive illness, organic brain damage or other psychiatric disorders. The continuation of hallucinations and episodes of altered awareness in some of the subjects may indicate a special predisposition to hallucinate.