Seven articles focus on child and adolescent mental health services, highlighting major evaluation issues, considering the contribution of evaluation to improvement of these services, and describing efforts to overcome distinctive problems in these areas. Policymakers and providers of services are optimistic about the use of evaluation of program…

A pilot study assessing parent satisfaction with mental health services for children was a disappointment in its low response rate (28%, 15 of 53 questionnaires). However, the questionnaire, the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, was an easy to use and effective tool that identified some sources of dissatisfaction. (SLD)

This paper describes a seminar for premedical students aimed at preventing their later disillusionment and distress as medical trainees by fostering realistic expectations and emotional exploration. The seminar consisted of discussions between premedical students and medical trainees/practitioners about stress and coping and included a physician…

Strategies for the adaptation of Head Start for the economic and social conditions of the future involve the linkage of early childhood and family support approaches with community economic development. Such strategies must include a reappraisal of mental health models to ensure the health of children and their families. (SLD)

Examines biopsychosocial effects of acculturation on the high suicide rate among young Ojibwa males in relation to "pimadaziwin" (health, well-being, and longevity for self and family attained through cultural compliance) and "nissitise" (face-saving suicide following loss of "pimadaziwin"). Case study illustrates how…

Describes the evolution, implementation, maintenance, and evaluation of comprehensive school-based mental health services in the Dallas, Texas public schools. A collaboration between mental health services, other health services, and the schools established 10 Youth and Family Centers to serve local schools. Benefits and challenges to coordinated…

Examines the relationship between parental bonding and mental health in healthy adolescents. Results, based on 847 Israeli high school students, show that those who reported high care and low control (optimal bonding) reported less distress, better general well-being, and better social support than did all other groups. (RJM)

Compared parents' problems and preschoolers' well-being in families of children living with their mothers or fathers in Denmark. Found close associations between strains on parents and child well-being. Parents who were not appreciated at work or unemployed were more likely to have conflicts with their children. Fathers had better jobs, less…

Proposes a one-stop model of services to be delivered from pediatric outpatient clinics to improve the delivery of services to low-income preschool children and their families. The needs of low-income preschoolers and their mothers, and how these needs are met by this model, are described. (Author/CR)

A study compared practice-level variables between two sites that have been implementing system-of-care (SOC) principles for at least 5 years and two traditional service systems. Overall, SOC sites scored significantly higher than non-SOC sites in the child-centered and family-focused, community-based, and cultural competence domains. (Contains…

Discusses social influence and social cognition's effect on health and social well-being, and examines the efficacy of public health campaigns, the effects of negative stereotyping, and why some teenagers resist drug use and others do not as part of the social problems addressed by behavioral science research. Future directions for research on…

A review of the literature on the impact of exposure to violence on psychologic functioning, perceptions of well- being, and health decisions and behavior in the context of black and Latino low-income urban communities found that exposure to violence can produce feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness, and alienation that limit motivation,…

Examines current social issues and the challenge of raising children under such conditions. Discusses elements of a socially toxic environment such as violence, poverty, disruption of family relationships, trauma, and alienation, and their effects on child development. Encourages a commitment to improve the quality of the social environment to…

Outlines factors that have influenced the approach of fully integrating children and family services into the fabric of their community and culture. Describes how school-based mental health services provide the foundation for the actualization of the interagency systems. States that significantly better outcomes have been noted from this model…

A study of 150 children and adolescents with reactive attachment disorder found that inpatient admission was related to limited psychosocial strengths, previous hospitalization, and history of sexual abuse. Most children admitted to inpatient care were rural and had never received community-based services. Implications for public health education,…