Exploring the Relationship Between a Continuum of Care and Intrusiveness of Children’s Mental Health Services

Intake data for 61 children in 3 types of mental health programs were compared to examine the assumption that the level of a program’s intrusiveness is positively related to a child’s severity of dysfunction. Results supported the relationship between intrusiveness & dysfunction only when children in outpatient treatment were compared with those in the other 2 programs. Children treated in the home-based program were more dysfunctional than those treated in the partial hospitalization program.