Child and adolescent mental health and primary health care: current status and future directions

The present review concentrates on the relatively small body of literature in the area of child and adolescent mental health and primary care. Prevalence rates for child mental health problems are estimated at 15-20%, and most young people with psychological and psychiatric problems are seen in primary care. Models of treatment provision, and recent research evidence on the effectiveness of interventions are described and discussed. Finally, the review focuses on the opportunities, benefits and potential problems in developing and expanding the role of primary care professionals to enable them to work with children with emotional and behavioural problems.