Psychiatric Disorders in Girls Over 15 Years Old Living in Foster Care Institutions of Kerman in the Year 1380

�psychiatric disorders are common and they have adverse effects on social activities of affected individuals. Special groups such as orphans are more vulnerable to these disorders. The aim of this study was to identify psychiatric problems in orphaned girls living in foster care institutions of kerman �In this cross – sectional study 150 orphaned girls over 15 years old were living in Kerman foster care institutions were randomly selected. They were matched for age and level of education with 150 non orphaned high school girls. The two groups were assessed by means of SCL-9-R test. SCL-90-R test containing 90 items is a diagnostic instrument for evaluating psychiatric disorders. The cut off point of 0.4 has been reported for Iranian society. The scores and point prevalences of all scales of SCL 90-R were higher in orphans compared to the control group. The highest and lowest scores in both groups belonged to paranoid thoughts and phobia scales respectively. The highest and lowest point prevalences in both groups belonged to somatic complaints and phobia scales respectively. Point prevalence for all scales was 90.33% in the case group. �High point prevalence for all scales in orphans showed high vulnerability of orphans to psychiatric disorders. Regular psychiatric evaluation and on time referral for treatment could improve their mental health status.