title: Noncompliance with family court mandated evaluations in a juvenile justice clinic.
abstract: This study identified factors correlating with noncompliance with family court ordered evaluations. Ninety charts from a juvenile justice clinic were reviewed. Subject noncompliance was defined as failure to attend three consecutive appointments. Patient, family, and environmental factors were analyzed. Forty-two percent of the subjects were noncompliant. Five variables discriminated compliant from noncompliant subjects: parental cooperation, prior criminal charge, school behavior problems, treatment at another facility, and disruptive behavior disorder. Utilizing these predictors, only 13 percent of subjects were misclassified as noncompliant in a discriminant analysis. It is concluded that a Court order by itself does not guarantee compliance with a mental health evaluation. However, the findings suggest that the risk for noncompliance may be assessed at the outset of the evaluation utilizing the above identified factors.
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Medical School.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pannullo
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brodzinsky
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hitt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers; D003416:Criminal Law; D005190:Family; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*