Providers of mental health services will need to address the expected increase in the older adult population. More practitioners as well as more people trained in teaching and research about aging and mental health will be needed. (Contains 11 references.) (JOW)

Three customary performance guidelines (therapeutic relationship, satisfaction, and parent involvement) believed to be indicators of quality care were tested for their ability to account for improved mental health outcomes among 240 adolescent clients. Results showed statistically significant relationships between these commonly accepted measures…

Describes an integrated school-based mental health services model established in pilot schools in under-served areas of South Carolina. States the approach bridges preventive efforts across settings, and links interventions with youths and their families to changes in environments and systems. Reports that findings are supportive of a broad…

Continuous quality improvement efforts are vital to high-quality early intervention services. This article describes an ongoing quality improvement project within an infant mental health-based Early Head Start program. Both strategies and challenges in implementing issues and lessons learned in the initial 2-year phase of the quality improvement…

Objective: To determine the effect of child-, parent- and family-related factors on the use of and need for mental health services by 12 years of age. Method: A prospective population-based questionnaire study of 1,287 first-born children was launched in Finland in 1985. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was completed by 1,086 parents when the…

Objective: To examine the relative contributions of symptom severity, functional impairment, and parental burden in predicting the use of specialist child mental health services over a 4-year period. Method: Between 1999 and 2000, parental Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires were completed on a community-based sample of 1,168 (40% response…

This case study profiles one of 24 high schools that participated in a school-based, NIH-funded study to increase physical activity among high school girls. The case study school was one of 12 randomly assigned to the intervention group. The study intervention was based on the premise that a successful intervention is developed and tailored by…

Sexuality education, part of the comprehensive school health education component of a Coordinated School Health Program, interests many health educators as well as special education teachers. In this study, Florida special educators reported their beliefs about teaching sexuality education to educable mentally disabled students, the range of…

The 2002 Future of School Psychology Conference called for reform of current models of professional school psychology, including a paradigm shift toward a public health model of practice. This article explores the role of school psychologists in efforts to achieve an integrated public health and public education model for delivering comprehensive…

This study examines how drug injection and needle sharing propensities respond when a needle exchange program (NEP) is introduced into a city. I analyze 1989-1995 Drug Use Forecasting data on adult male arrestees from 24 large U.S. cities, in nine of which NEPs opened during the sample period. After controlling for cocaine and heroin prices, AIDS…

Many rural Midwestern communities are experiencing rapid growth in Latino populations with low rates of health insurance coverage, limited financial resources, language and cultural differences, and special health care needs. We report on 2-day site visits conducted in 2001 and 2002 in 3 communities (Marshalltown, Iowa; Great Bend, Kansas; and…

Quality improvement (QI) activities, designed to enhance program evaluation efforts and to improve quality of care, have become increasingly important in children's services research. QI activities examine outcomes and provide accountability data that can be very useful for telling the story of the development, implementation, and effectiveness of…

Adolescents are in crisis in school, home, and in the community. With an increasing array of problems, from alcohol and drug addiction to teenage pregnancy, the nation's youth are facing difficult challenges. In particular, family problems experienced by adolescents alone can seem daunting, with such issues as divorce, abuse, and discord changing…

This study examined Asian American and Asian international college students' attitudes toward seeking online professional psychological help as well as traditional face-to-face professional psychological help. Results suggest that students had less favorable attitudes toward seeking help online than toward seeking help by traditional face-to-face…

Background: Research has shown that a large proportion of adolescents with symptoms of depression and substantial distress or impairment fail to meet the diagnostic criteria for a major depressive disorder (MDD). However, many of these undiagnosed adolescents may meet criteria for a residual category of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of…