Aim:

To investigate parental help-seeking patterns prior to referral to outpatient child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), and whether type of symptoms or duration of mental health problems prior to referral influence help-seeking.

Setting:

Child mental health services in Denmark involve several sectors collaborating based on stepped-care principles. Access to CAMHS is free of charge but requires a formal referral.

Methods:

In this cross-sectional observational study, parents of 250 children were interviewed about pathways to outpatient CAMHS using the Children’s Services Interview.

Results:

The median parent-reported duration of mental health problems prior to referral to CAMHS was 6.0 (IQR 3.4–8.5) years for children referred for neurodevelopmental disorders compared to 2.8 (IQR 1.0–6.5) years for children referred for emotional disorders. Educational services were the first help-seeking contact for the majority (57.5%) but referrals to CAMHS were most frequently from healthcare services (56.4%), predominantly general practitioners. Educational services played a greater part in help-seeking pathways for children referred for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Conclusion:

The majority of children referred to CAMHS have mental health problems for years before referral. The delay in time-to-referral was most pronounced for children referred for neurodevelopmental disorders. Help-seeking pathways differ by symptom duration and type of symptoms.

中文翻译：

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转诊至门诊儿童和青少年心理健康服务之前的求助途径

目标：

调查转诊至门诊儿童和青少年心理健康服务 (CAMHS) 之前的父母寻求帮助的模式，以及转诊前的症状类型或心理健康问题的持续时间是否会影响寻求帮助。

环境：

丹麦的儿童心理健康服务涉及多个基于阶梯式护理原则合作的部门。访问 CAMHS 是免费的，但需要正式推荐。

方法：

在这项横断面观察性研究中，使用儿童服务访谈对 250 名儿童的父母进行了关于门诊 CAMHS 途径的采访。

结果：

转诊至 CAMHS 之前，父母报告的精神健康问题持续时间中位数为 6.0（IQR 3.4-8.5）年，而转诊为情绪障碍的儿童为 2.8（IQR 1.0-6.5）年。教育服务是大多数人（57.5%）的第一个寻求帮助的联系人，但转介到 CAMHS 的最常见的是医疗服务（56.4%），主要是全科医生。教育服务在为因神经发育障碍而转诊的儿童寻求帮助的途径中发挥了更大的作用。

结论：

大多数被转诊到 CAMHS 的儿童在转诊前多年都存在心理健康问题。对于因神经发育障碍而转诊的儿童，转诊时间的延迟最为明显。寻求帮助的途径因症状持续时间和症状类型而异。