Do young people attending addiction services differ from those attending youth mental health services?
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to describe and compare the self-reported substance use, psychopathology and psychosocial morbidity in adolescents attending two adolescent outpatient services, a triage-based mental health service and an engagement-focused addiction service in Auckland, New Zealand.


METHODS
A naturalistic cross-section of 131 (addiction service = 67, mental health service = 64) 14-18-year-old boys and girls attending each service completed a standardised screening and assessment instrument, the Drug Use Screening Inventory-Revised. The Drug Use Screening Inventory-Revised measures self-reported problems across 10 domains of functioning, including substance use, behaviour, psychiatric symptoms and school and family functioning. Descriptive statistics were used to provide an overview of the self-reported morbidity in each group and t-tests were used to determine differences between the two groups.


RESULTS
Adolescents attending the addiction service reported significantly more problems with substance use, school performance and peer relationships than those attending the mental health service. There was no significant difference in reported psychiatric symptoms, behavioural problems, social competency, health problems, family problems, difficulties in work functioning or leisure time between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Young people presenting to engagement-focused substance use services report similar difficulties to those at mental health services across most areas of psychosocial functioning. Addiction services may require equivalent staffing expertise and workforce development to that in mental health to effectively meet young people's needs.
Christie
Grant
G
Community Alcohol and Drug Youth Service, Waitemata District Health Board, 409 New North Road, Kingsland, Auckland, New Zealand. grant.christie@waitematadhb.govt.nz
Merry
Sally
S
Robinson
Elizabeth
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology