A pilot system of individualized and rurally compatible community-based alternatives to residential and institutional treatment settings for seriously emotionally disturbed children was evaluated. The results indicate that this intensive, community-based, service-delivery system appears to improve children's behavioral and emotional functioning,…

Evaluated the educational, psychological, and medical literature that addressed emotional difficulties and behavioral problems in students. Determined that the lack of consensus on the terms used to describe the problem prevented accurate assessment of its prevalence. Concludes that low-cost, gate-keeping mechanisms are needed to facilitate early…

This paper examines school restructuring, the national education goals, and opportunities to improve the quality of education for adolescents with behavioral disorders. The paper favors adjustment as a goal along with achievement, a focus on broad outcomes of education, and links between mental health and education. (JDD)

Four mothers of children (ages 10-18) with learning disabilities were interviewed over a 1-year period. Their comments about services provided by educational and mental health professionals indicated high levels of frustration and dissatisfaction. Parental expectations and perspectives differed from those of educators. (Author/JDD)

A summary is provided of a large-scale needs assessment research project in Colorado that tested the validity of several statistical procedures or models for indirectly estimating the need for alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health services across geographic subregions using a Colorado Social Health Survey sample of 4,745 adults. (SLD)

This study reports on the problems that children of alcoholics (COAs) have related to campus authorities across the country. Explores the services offered at campuses and probes the extent to which COAs' more frequent problems raise critical research questions, both of which affect guiding services to this group. (RJM)

Costs for caring for severely mentally disabled persons receiving housing subsidies and/or case management services or who were in a state hospital were compared in two Ohio counties. Comparisons for 82 persons found differences among community-based group settings, but the state hospital costs at least 3 times higher. (SLD)

The Vanderbilt School-Based Counseling Program in Nashville, Tennessee, increases access to mental health services for children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds via a primary care model delivering on-site services. Possible interventions include psychotherapy, parent skill training, behavioral and psychiatric consultation to staff…

This article reviews "ADHD with Comorbid Disorders: Clinical Assessment and Management" by Steven R. Pliszka, Caryn L. Carlson, and James M. Swanson, a book that provides information on children displaying both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other comorbid psychiatric conditions, complex psychopharmacological interventions that may…

Provides an overview of the health care reform context in order to explore the emerging role for psychologists in the delivery of health and mental health services to children in the school setting. Discusses current trends and introduces the articles that constitute the special theme issue on school psychology and health care. (JPS)

Discusses issues regarding the use of a pharmacological approach to the treatment of children with serious emotional and mental disorders that interfere with learning. Addresses the current state of psychopharmacological treatment for diagnostic entities and behavioral symptomatology. Discusses the roles of the child, family, and health and…

Sandtray therapy, in which students use figures and the sand itself to build and design miniature worlds in a tray, can be a powerful and effective tool in meeting the mental health needs of children and adolescents, including and maybe especially children who are deaf and hard of hearing. It is a highly visual approach that crosses language and…

This study was an investigation of intergenerational relationships related to the individuation process as reported by Mexican (N = 2,388) and European American (N = 2,907) adolescents. The primary aim was to examine the construct within theories of adolescent development that emotional separation in parent-adolescent relationships is an inherent…

As the size and diversity of the older population increases, mental health providers will be called upon to deliver high-quality services to the elderly. However, many of these professionals hold negative attitudes toward the elderly; psychotherapy conducted with older adults by clinicians with such biases could represent a waste of time and…

Young people with comorbid disorders (coexisting mental health and substance use disorders) present with particular issues that can be difficult for service providers, and for the community as a whole, to respond to. They tend to fall between the cracks of mental health services and substance use services, with the outcome often being ineffective…