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Correspondence between child dysfunction and program intrusion: Evidence of a continuum of care across five child mental health programs
Author(s) -
Friman Patrick C.,
Evans Joseph,
Larzelere Robert,
Williams George,
Daly Daniel L.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(199307)21:3<227::aid-jcop2290210307>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - intrusiveness , mental health , checklist , restrictiveness , intrusion , psychology , child behavior checklist , assertion , psychiatry , clinical psychology , medicine , developmental psychology , geochemistry , geology , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , cognitive psychology , programming language
A fundamental goal of the continuum of care concept is high correspondence between child dysfunction and program intrusiveness. Yet the small body of relevant research has identified major discrepancies. We used the Child Behavior Checklist to compare entry‐level behavior problems of children from five child mental health programs sequenced in order of level of intrusiveness: Outpatient clinic, parent training, intensive family preservation services (IFPS), residental care, and inpatient hospitalization. Our results contrast with existing research by showing correspondence between level of child dysfunction and program intrusiveness. A possible reason for our contrasting results is that we included a larger number of mental health programs than were used in previous studies. These results are important because they reflect the continuum of care concept being put into practice and support the assertion that increasing mental health options with alternative community mental health programs increases the chances of appropriate treatment for children in trouble.