Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T04:38:08.718Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘It must be because …’: Non-biological care and mental health Part III. Who refers – and why?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Cas O’Neill  and
Deborah Absler
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article, the final in a series of three, looks at how and why children are referred for psychiatric help, and then presents an analysis of referrals which occurred during the period, 1.7.1991–30.6.1993, at Alfred Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in Melbourne.

Analysis of the referral sources for two groups of children (those who had experienced non-biological care and those who had not) showed very different patterns, the implications of which are discussed. In contrast, analysis of the presenting problems showed that the difference between the two groups of children was not as marked as had been expected. Possible explanations for this, involving systemic issues, are explored.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , 1999 , pp. 20 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, D. & Garralda, M. (1989), ‘Referral to Child Psychiatry: Parent and Doctor Motives and Expectations’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30 (3), 449–458.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Community Services (1994), Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Draft Policy Statement, Department of Health and Community Services, Melbourne Google Scholar
Godfrey, J. (1995), ‘Pathways to a Child Mental Health Service’, Child: Care, Health and Developmental 21(4), 223–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howe, D. & Hinings, D. (1987), ‘Adopted Children Referred to a Child and Family Centre’, Adoption and Fostering, 11 (3), 44–47.Google Scholar
Lambert, M., Weisz, J. & Knight, F. (1989), ‘Over- and Undercontrolled Clinic Referral Problems of Jamaican and American Children and Adolescents: The Culture General and the Culture Specific’, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57 (4), 467–472.Google Scholar
Marks, F., Wolkind, S. & Napper, R. (1981), ‘Primary Care Workers’ Perception of Disturbed Children and the Agencies They Use to Help these Children’, Child: Care, Health and Development, 7, 217–228.Google Scholar
O’Neill, C. & Absler, D. (1998), ‘“It must be because…” Non-biological care and mental health: Part 1. Setting the context’, Children Australia, 23(3), 1998.Google Scholar
O’Neill, C. (1999), ‘“It must be because…” Non-biological care and mental health: Part II. The pattern of referrals to Alfred Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service’, Children Australia, 24(1), 1999.Google Scholar
Sawyer, M., Sarris, A., Baghurst, P., Cornish, C. & Kalucy, R. (1990), “The Prevalence of Emotional and Behaviour Disorders and Patterns of Service Utilisation in Children and Adolescents’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 24, 323–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sawyer, M., Baghurst, P. & Mathias, J. (1992), ‘Differences Between Informants’ Reports Describing Emotional and Behavioural Problems in Community and Clinic-referred Children: a Research Note’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33 (2), 441–449.Google Scholar
Verhulst, F., Versluis-Den Bieman, H., Van Der Ende, J., Berden, G. & Sanders-Woudstra, J. (1990), ‘Problem Behavior in International Adoptees: III. Diagnosis of Child Psychiatric Disorders’, J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 29 (3), 420–428.Google Scholar
Weisz, J. & Weiss, B. (1991), ‘Studying the ‘Referability’ of Child Clinical Problems’, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59 (2), 266–273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed