the characteristics and activities of child and adolescent mental health services in italy a regional survey的特点和活动在意大利儿童和青少年心理健康服务区域调查.pdf

Pedrini et al. BMC Psychiatry 2012, 12:7 /1471-244X/12/7 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access The characteristics and activities of child and adolescent mental health services in Italy: a regional survey 1 2 3 4 5 6 Laura Pedrini , Giovanni Colasurdo , Stefano Costa , Michela Fabiani , Linda Ferraresi , Emilio Franzoni , 7 8 9 10 11 12 Francesca Masina , Renato Moschen , Vittoria Neviani , Stefano Palazzi , Roberto Parisi , Antonia Parmeggiani , Antonio Preti13, Cosimo Ricciutello14, Marco BL Rocchi15, Davide Sisti15, Antonella Squarcia16, Stefano Trebbi17, Donatella Turchetti18, Paola Visconti19, Andrea Tullini20 and Giovanni de Girolamo1*, for the PREMIA Group Abstract Background: To date, no studies have assessed in detail the characteristics, organisation, and functioning of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This information gap represents a major limitation for researchers and clinicians because most mental disorders have their onset in childhood or adolescence, and effective interventions can therefore represent a major factor in avoiding chronicity. Interventions and mental health care are delivered by and through services, and not by individual, private clinicians, and drawbacks or limitations of services generally translate in inappropriateness and ineffectiveness of treatments and interventions: therefore information about services is essential to improve the quality of care and ultimately the course and outcome of mental disorders in childhood and adolescence. The present paper reports the results of the first study aimed at pr