title: Demographic and clinical characteristics of young people seeking help at youth mental health services: baseline findings of the Transitions Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Transitions Study was designed to establish a cohort of young people (12-25 years) seeking help for mental health problems, in order to longitudinally explore and refine a clinical staging model of the development and progression of mental disorders. This paper presents the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the cohort, particularly the nature and severity of psychopathology.
  
  
  METHODS
  All eligible young people attending one of four headspace clinical services were invited to participate, and completed a battery of self-report and interviewer-administered measures of psychopathology and functional impairment at baseline, which will be repeated at the annual follow up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1615 eligible clients, 802 young people (66% women; mean age = 18.3 years) consented to participate and completed baseline assessments (participation rate = 50%). The severity of mental health problems varied, with 51% meeting the criteria for probable caseness related to generalized anxiety, 45% presenting with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and over a third experiencing subthreshold psychotic symptomatology. Disordered eating (32%) and problematic tobacco (56%), cannabis (30%) and alcohol (38%) use also affected a significant proportion. Overall, 39% of the cohort were classed as being functionally impaired at baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Transitions Study recruited a heterogeneous cohort at baseline in relation to the nature and severity of mental health problems and levels of functional impairment. The variation in clinical presentations within the cohort, from mild, through moderate to severe levels of psychopathology and impairment, increases the likelihood of the Transitions Study ultimately being able to achieve its aims of empirically testing a clinical staging model for mental disorders.
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Purcell
authors.affiliation: School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Jorm
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Hickie
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Alison R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Yung
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pantelis
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: G Paul
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Amminger
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Glozier
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Eoin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Killackey
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Lisa J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Susy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harrigan
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mackinnon
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniel F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Hermens
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Guastella
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kenyon
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mundy
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Alissa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nichles
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Antoinette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scaffidi
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spiliotacopoulos
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Janet P Y
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wiltink
authors.affiliation: Brain & Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zmicerevska
authors.affiliation: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Patrick D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: McGorry
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009790:Occupations; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D066107:Social Skills; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: anxiety; clinical staging; depression; early psychosis; youth mental health