Childrens' pathways to care

It is well known that parental mental health impacts upon child mental well being. What is less known is what drives parents to seek treatment for child mental health problems. The objective of this study is to identify causal pathways of child mental health service use. Such information is useful to target resources and services for families. This study used data from the 2002 National Survey of American Families to explore the relationship between maternal mental health as measured by questions adapted from the Medical Outcomes Study MHI-5 and child mental health services use. Observations were limited to the 8072 most knowledgeable adults who were the mothers of target children aged 6-11. Path analyses were performed using SAS Proc CALIS. Poor maternal health was associated with increased parental aggravation which in turn was associated with increased use of mental health visits. Negative child behaviors as reported by the mother were also associated with increased maternal aggravation and increased service use. All paths were significant at the .05 level of significance or below. The Chi Square for the lack of fit of the model was insignificant. Parental perception of child behaviors drives treatment seeking, both directly and indirectly through parental aggravation. Parental tolerance for child behaviors is influenced by their own mental health status. Our findings are consistent with other studies. Parental report should not be the only method for identifying childhood mental disorders as parental perception of child behaviors is influenced by their own mental health. Policy implications are discussed.