Users and “teasers”

This article examines the experience of families who contacted a child and family community mental health treatment center, but then did not follow through to receive even one session of diagnosis or treatment at the agency. The paper reports the base rate for this behavior in a large (N = 2,358) sample of cases who either only made inquiry or who received treatment at the agency. The inquiry group, or "teasers," tended to have children who were older than client groups, to have relatively more behavioral and fewer personality problems, to have demonstrated problems earlier than client groups, and to have parents who were slightly older. A follow-up study was conducted with 100 inquiry and 100 client cases. The relative efficacy of telephone and written questionnaire methodologies are compared, demonstrating that the telephone approach was more effective. Client-group children were reported to be only moderately better off at the time of follow-up than the inquiry group, but conclusions about the effects of treatment are limited by the finding that many members of the inquiry group had sought treatment elsewhere after their brief contact with the agency. Implications of this study for community mental health administration and for future research in this area are discussed.

Agency (philosophy) · Center (category theory) · Mental health · Mental health service · Personality · Psychiatry · Session (web analytics) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Psychiatric care and mental health services · Psychology · Social Psychology

• Dropout in a Treatment Program for Self-referring Wife Abusing Men

  Open Access•Pamela D Brown, K Daniel O’leary et al.•Journal of Family Violence•1997

  Añadir item

• The elusive population

  Open Access•Michael Hershorn•Community Mental Health Journal•1993

  Añadir item

• Interventions for reducing missed initial appointments at a community mental health center

  Open Access•Thomas R Swenson, Gene Pekarik•Community Mental Health Journal•1988

  Añadir item

• Dropping out of treatment

  Frederick Baekeland, Maria Gloria Sanchez Torrubia et al.•Psychological Bulletin•1975

  Añadir item

• The problem of early outpatient terminations from community mental health centers

  Open Access•Glenn E Littlepage, Karl D Kosloski et al.•Journal of Community Psychology•1976

  Añadir item

• A followup of pretherapy dropouts

  Open Access•J Robert Noonan•Journal of Community Psychology•1973

  Añadir item

• Reducing missed initial appointments in a community mental health center

  Open Access•Neil J Hochstadt, John Trybula•Journal of Community Psychology•1980

  Añadir item

• Some distinguishing features of patients failing to attend a psychiatric clinic after referral

  Anthony E Raynes, Gayle H Warren et al.•American Journal of Orthopsychiatry•1971

  Añadir item

• Predictors of the duration of therapy for clients in the community mental health system

  Open Access•Stanley Sue, Herman McKinney et al.•Community Mental Health Journal•1976

  Añadir item

• Some characteristics of ?drop-outs? at first contact with a psychiatric clinic

  Open Access•Anthony E Raynes, Gayle H Warren et al.•Community Mental Health Journal•1971

  Añadir item

• What happens to applicants for psychotherapy

  Open Access•Bernard F Riess, LEWIS W BRANDT•Community Mental Health Journal•1965

  Añadir item

• The structure of attrition during appraisal

  Open Access•Robert J Albers, Larry L Scrivner•Community Mental Health Journal•1977

  Añadir item