A common factors approach to improving the mental health capacity of pediatric primary care.
To expand the mental health service capacity of pediatric primary care, we ask whether there are evidence-based skills to allow providers to 1) immediately begin treatment for children with emotional and behavioral problems while diagnostic procedures are being pursued, and 2) offer evidence-based care to children who do not meet criteria for a specific diagnosis. We discuss why the epidemiology of child mental health problems poses difficulties for disorder-specific mental health interventions, and review evidence that "common factors" contributing to the outcome of mental health treatments define a core set of skills that primary care providers might use to complement disorder-specific interventions.
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA. lwissow@jhsph.edu
Larry
L
Wissow
Bruno
B
Anthony
Jonathan
J
Brown
Susan
S
DosReis
Anne
A
Gadomski
Golda
G
Ginsburg
Mark
M
Riddle
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*