Bellamy Jennifer L, Gopalan Geetha, Traube Dorian E
The University of Chicago, USA.
Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2010 Oct;15(4):467-79. doi: 10.1177/1359104510377720.
Despite the tremendous mental health need evidenced by children in foster care and high rates of use of mental health services among children in foster care, little is known about the impact of outpatient mental health services on the behavioral health of this population. This study utilizes data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), the first nationally representative study of child welfare in the United States. A subsample of 439 children who have experienced long-term foster care were included in this study. These data were used to estimate the impact of outpatient mental health services on the externalizing and internalizing behavior problems of children in long-term foster care. A propensity score matching model was employed to produce a robust estimate of the treatment effect. Results indicate that children who have experienced long-term foster care do not benefit from the receipt of outpatient mental health services. Study results are discussed in the context of earlier research on the quality of mental health services for children in foster care.
尽管寄养儿童所表现出的巨大心理健康需求以及寄养儿童中较高的心理健康服务使用率已得到证实，但对于门诊心理健康服务对这一人群行为健康的影响却知之甚少。本研究利用了美国全国儿童和青少年福祉调查（NSCAW）的数据，这是美国第一项具有全国代表性的儿童福利研究。本研究纳入了439名经历过长期寄养的儿童的子样本。这些数据被用于估计门诊心理健康服务对长期寄养儿童外化和内化行为问题的影响。采用倾向得分匹配模型来对治疗效果进行稳健估计。结果表明，经历过长期寄养的儿童并未从接受门诊心理健康服务中获益。研究结果将在早期关于寄养儿童心理健康服务质量研究的背景下进行讨论。
