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Utilization of Mental Health Services by Preschool-Aged Children with Private Insurance Coverage

Mir M Ali1, Judith Teich2, Sean Lynch2

  • 1Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20852, USA. mir.ali@samhsa.hhs.gov.

Administration and Policy in Mental Health
|February 25, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Few preschool children receive behavioral interventions alongside psychiatric prescriptions. Most children with psychotropic prescriptions lacked mental health diagnoses or other treatment claims, indicating undertreatment of pediatric mental health conditions.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric mental health
  • Healthcare access and utilization
  • Psychopharmacology in children

Background:

  • Growing awareness of mental health conditions in preschool-aged children.
  • Limited understanding of treatment patterns for this demographic.
  • Need for research on the intersection of medication and behavioral interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the treatment landscape for preschool-aged children with mental health conditions.
  • To determine the extent of behavioral interventions received concurrently with psychiatric prescriptions.
  • To analyze the diagnostic and treatment claims associated with psychotropic medication use in young children.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of the 2014 MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database.
  • Inclusion of a large cohort of preschool-aged children (N=1,987,759).
  • Examination of behavioral intervention claims and psychiatric prescription data.

Main Results:

  • A small fraction of preschool children received behavioral interventions with psychiatric prescriptions.
  • The majority of children with psychotropic prescriptions had no other treatment claims.
  • Most children with filled prescriptions lacked a formal mental health diagnosis on record.

Conclusions:

  • Preschool-aged children with mental health concerns are significantly undertreated.
  • There is a disconnect between psychotropic medication prescribing and comprehensive mental health care.
  • Further research is needed to improve access to integrated behavioral and pharmacological treatments for early childhood mental health.

Keywords:
Mental health treatmentPreschool childrenPsychotropic medication

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