Depressive and Disruptive Disorders and Mental Health Service Utilization in Children and Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 179370
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 38 Issue: 9 Dated: September 1999 Pages: 1081-1092
• Author(s): Ping Wu Ph.D; Christina W. Hoven Ph.D.; Hector R. Bird M.D.; Robert E. Moore Ph.D.; Patrician Cohen Ph.D.; Margarita Alegria Ph.D.; Mina K. Dulcan M.D.; Sherryl H. Goodman Ph.D.; Sarah McCue Horwitz Ph.D.; Judith H. Lichtman Ph.D.; William E. Narrow M.D.; Donald S. Rae M.P.H; Darrel A. Regier M.P.H; Margaret T. Roper M.S.
• Date Published: September 1999
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH469091-01A3
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study used a community sample of children and adolescents to examine the relationship of depressive and disruptive disorders with patterns of mental health services used in a community sample of children and adolescents.

Abstract

Data were obtained from the National Institute of Mental Health's Methods for the Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders Study. The sample consisted of 1,285 child (ages 9-17 years) and parent/guardian pairs. Data included child psychopathology (assessed by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children), impairment, child need and use of mental health services, and family socioeconomic status. Findings show that after adjusting for potential confounding factors, disruptive disorder was significantly associated with children's use of mental health services, but depressive disorder was not. For school-based services, no difference was found between the two types of disorders. Parents perceived greater need for mental health services for children with disruptive disorders than for those with depression. Conversely, depression was more related to children's perception of mental health service need than was disruptive disorder. The findings highlight the need for more effective ways to identify and refer depressed children to mental health professionals, the importance of improving school-based services to meet children's needs, and the necessity to better educate parents and teachers regarding the identification of psychiatric disorders, especially depression. 4 tables and 38 references