Even when schools are effectively identifying students with trauma or mental disorders, these students may not continue to receive the type of treatment they need outside of school.
After initially visiting a school psychologist, adolescents in the United States with a mental disorder often go to seek care from their pediatricians or family doctors. Fewer of them continue their treatment directly with a psychotherapist or doctor specialized in mental disorders. This shows an analysis conducted by scientists at the University of Basel that has just been published in the academic journal PLOS ONE. The results are based on a nationally representative cohort of 6,500 U.S. teenagers.
A considerable number of children and adolescents suffer from a mental disorder at some point of their time in school. In these cases, school psychologists are an important first contact point. However, their ability to provide comprehensive psychotherapeutic treatment directly is limited. Ideally, school psychologists should guide the way through the health care system in order to ensure children get access to adequate mental care from specialists.
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