Parental relations and referral of adolescents to Norwegian mental health clinics

Abstract

Objective: Many youngsters with mental health problems are not referred to mental health clinics. Parents play an important role in the referral process of youngster to mental health clinics. The main aim of this study was to explore the role of the parent–child relation for referral of adolescents to outpatient psychiatric clinics. Method: Employing a cross-sectional design, we compared a referred sample of 39 adolescents in outpatient psychiatric treatment with a non-referred matched control sample of 39 adolescents. The Parental Bonding Instrument and Youth Self-Report were employed to assess the characteristics of these two population groups. Results: Adolescents referred to Norwegian mental health clinics for mental health problems report more perceived care from mothers and a trend of more care from fathers compared with non-referred controls matched on level of mental health problems, age and gender. Implications of the finding for the role of parents on referral of adolescents to mental health clinics and for treatment compliance are discussed.

• Adolescents
• Health service utilization
• Parents

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Trine Svardal and Katrine Mæland for their highly valued assistance in the data gathering process. This study was supported by a grant from Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/University of Bergen, Norway to the first author.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.