Factors associated with dropout and diagnosis in child and adolescent mental health services

Objective: Dropout from child and adolescent mental health services has ramifications for children, families and the services themselves. Understanding the factors that are associated with dropout for different diagnoses has the potential to assist with tailoring of services to reduce dropout. The aim of the current study was to identify such factors.

Method: A file audit was conducted for all referrals to a child and adolescent mental health service over a 12 month period, yielding 520 subjects for analysis (264 male, 256 female, mean age = 12.6 years). Parent, child and service variables of interest were recorded as were diagnoses, which were categorized into 25 superordinate categories.

Results: Almost 50% of subjects dropped out of treatment. Factors associated with dropout varied across diagnosis, and no factor was associated with dropout for all diagnoses.

Conclusion: There are differences in the factors that were associated with dropout for different disorders. This is a useful finding in terms of understanding and preventing dropout in child and adolescent mental health settings, but more research is needed.