Mental Health Service Use Among Children with Chronic Physical Illness

Children with chronic physical illness are more likely to experience adverse mental health; however, the extent of their mental health service use is relatively unknown.

This study described the patterns of mental health service use over 24 months and identified sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with patterns of use among children with chronic physical illness.

Data come from a longitudinal study of 263 children ages 2 to 16 years with chronic physical illness. Measures of mental health service use were parent-reported.

Approximately one quarter of parents reported that their child had some form of contact with a health professional for their mental health. Latent class analyses at baseline and 24 months determined a two-class model with one class reporting any service contact for their mental health (11.4-16.4%) while the second class reported no service use (88.6-83.7%). Child age (OR = 1.30 [1.15, 1.46]), comorbid mental health conditions (OR = 5.58 [2.19, 14.18]), elevated disability (OR = 1.09 [1.02, 1.17]), and higher parental educational attainment (OR = 3.12 [1.56, 6.26]) were associated with any service use class.

Mental health service needs are common in children with chronic physical illness, and use of mental health services is related to sociodemographic and health-related factors. These results underscore the need to integrate physical and mental health services in this population. Future research among more diverse samples using data linkages to health records should be undertaken to mitigate the potential limitations of parent-reported service use.