Pathways Into and Through Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents

This study examined points of entry into the mental health service system for children and adolescents as well as patterns of movement through five service sectors: specialty mental health services, education, general medicine, juvenile justice, and child welfare.

The data were from the Great Smoky Mountains Study, a longitudinal epidemiologic study of mental health problems and service use among youths. The sample consisted of 1,420 youths who were nine, 11, or 13 years old at study entry. Each youth and a parent were interviewed at baseline and every year thereafter about the use of services for mental health problems over the three-year study period.