Responses of children with different intake profiles to mental health treatment

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Mental Health Services Research
• Systems of Care

Background:

• Children with serious emotional disturbances often present with varied demographic profiles, diagnoses, and risk factors.
• Referral sources and intake characteristics can influence service delivery within systems of care.
• Understanding functional change across diverse child populations is crucial for evaluating mental health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relative change in functioning for children with serious emotional disturbances within a system of care.
• To investigate whether referral source and intake profiles impact functional improvement.
• To assess the consistency of outcomes across diverse patient groups.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 203 children receiving services for at least six months was analyzed.
• The Child and Adolescent Functioning Assessment Scale (CAFAS) was used for baseline and six-month assessments.
• Repeated-measures general linear analysis identified factors influencing changes in functioning.

Main Results:

• Children demonstrated significant functional improvement from baseline to six months on average.
• The extent of functional improvement did not significantly vary based on referral source, presenting problem, risk factors, age, or gender.
• No significant differences in the proportion of change were observed across these demographic and clinical factors.

Conclusions:

• Children in this system of care experienced similar rates of functional improvement in the first six months.
• Outcomes were consistent regardless of diverse referral sources, diagnoses, demographic profiles, or risk levels.
• The system of care appears effective in promoting positive functional changes across a broad spectrum of children.