Child Mental Health is Everybody's Business: The Prevalence of Contact with Public Sector Services by Type of Disorder Among British School Children in a Three‐Year Period

Abstract

METHOD: A third of the children from the 1999 British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey were followed-up over 3 years. Parents provided summary information on service contacts in relation to mental health; selected subgroups provided more detailed information by telephone interview. RESULTS: Common overlaps in service use were between health services, between teachers and educational specialists, and between the latter and CAMHS or social services. Services other than primary health care saw more children with externalising disorders, while children with anxiety disorders were less likely than children with other psychiatric disorders to be in contact with any service. CONCLUSIONS: Child mental health is everybody's business, and professionals need to be alert(ed) to the types of disorders that children using their service may have.