Problems of young people in community psychiatric care

The purpose of this study was to describe the problems of young people who need professional help and who have been referred to community psychiatric care. The aim was to develop both the type of care and the system of referral. The research data comprised all referrals (n = 184) to the outpatients' youth psychiatric clinic of one university hospital in 1997, and documentation related to the adolescents' interviews on admission. The data were analysed by both deductive and inductive content analysis. Young people's problems could be identified in all central spheres of life as difficulties in relation to the self, school, parents, peers, dating and the future. The difficulties were interrelated and varied in their degree of seriousness. When assessing young people's difficulties and need for care, focus should be made on the inner world of the young person, as well as on their behaviour within the different spheres of life. Only in this way is it possible to get a full picture of the adolescent's individual situation and need for help.