Referral to a school mental health project: a screening note

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Mental Health Services Research

Background:

• School mental health programs aim to support students' well-being.
• Effective screening tools are crucial for early identification and intervention.
• Assessing the efficiency of existing school adjustment measures is vital for optimizing service delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the screening efficiency of two school-adjustment measures.
• To determine the proportion of referred children identifiable via a cutoff score procedure.
• To discuss the implications of using cutoff scores for intervention selection.

Main Methods:

• Assessed screening efficiency by examining the proportion of referred children scoring at or above the 85th percentile on adjustment measures.
• Utilized data from children referred to a school mental health program.
• Analyzed the performance of a cutoff score screening approach.

Main Results:

• The screening cutoff score procedure successfully identified 60-90% of children referred to the mental health program.
• Demonstrated significant efficiency in detecting children requiring support.
• Highlighted the potential of these measures in identifying at-risk students.

Conclusions:

• The evaluated screening measures, using a cutoff score approach, are efficient in identifying a substantial majority of children needing school mental health services.
• Recommends the use of cutoff score procedures for selecting children for intervention.
• Suggests implications for improving the targeting and effectiveness of school-based mental health interventions.