Children in adoptive families: overview and update.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the past 10 years of published research concerning the 2% of American children younger than 18 years old who are adoptees. METHOD: Review recent literature on developmental influences, placement outcome, psychopathology, and treatment. RESULTS: Adoption carries developmental opportunities and risks. Many adoptees have remarkably good outcomes, but some subgroups have difficulties. Traditional infant, international, and transracial adoptions may complicate adoptees' identity formation. Those placed after infancy may have developmental delays, attachment disturbances, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Useful interventions include preventive counseling to foster attachment, postadoption supports, focused groups for parents and adoptees, and psychotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Variables specific to adoption affect an adopted child's developmental trajectory. Externalizing, internalizing, attachment, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms may arise. Child and adolescent psychiatrists can assist both adoptive parents and children.

"Real world" atypical antipsychotic prescribing practices in public child and adolescent inpatient settings.

This article examines the factors that influence antipsychotic use among youth treated in public inpatient facilities. By combining data from 11 focus groups, a survey of 43 researchers and clinicians, and a chart review of 100 closed patient charts, we investigated the interplay between physicians' and staff members' perceptions of problems related to antipsychotic prescribing, their beliefs concerning optimal approaches, their actual recorded prescribing behaviors, and the discrepancies between their beliefs and their recorded practices. We discovered that antipsychotics are prescribed broadly to treat a variety of conditions, including nonpsychotic disorders among children in public inpatient facilities. Despite overall expert consensus regarding "best practices," physicians described systemic obstacles that prevent the application of these practices, and our data confirmed that best practices are not always followed. Future research should be done with this patient population and should investigate the factors that influence antipsychotic use among inpatient youth.

Regional variation and clinical indicators of antipsychotic use in residential treatment: a four-state comparison.

The last decade saw an increase in psychotropic use with pediatric populations. Antipsychotic prescriptions are used frequently in residential treatment settings, with many youth receiving antipsychotics for off-label indications. Residential treatment data from 4 states were examined to determine if regional variation exists in off-label prescription and what clinicalfactors predict use. The study used clinical and pharmacological data collected via retrospective chart reviews (N = 732). The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Assessment-Mental Health Version was used to measure symptom and risk severity. Of youth receiving antipsychotics, 42.9% had no history of or current psychosis. Statistical analyses resulted in significant regional variation in use across states and yielded attention deficit/impulsivity, physical aggression, elopement, sexually abusive behavior, and criminal behavior as factors associated with antipsychotic prescription in nonpsychotic youth. Antipsychotic prescription is inconsistent across states. Off-label prescription is frequent and likelihood of use increases with behavior problems.

The kids oneida project: what happened to services when the payment rules changed.

Community-based systems of care may provide high quality, cost-effective alternatives to institutional care for children and adolescents. This report examines Kids Oneida (KO), a not-for-profit managed care entity established in upstate New York in 1998 to serve such children and their families. Changes in payment rules that established the program allowed KO to contract with a wide array of providers to provide and be reimbursed for non-traditional and formerly unreimbursable services, such as mentoring and supervision. By design, emphasis was on highly individualized plans of care in which traditional office-based services played only a small part. During the first 30 months of KO's operation, 228 children, whose severity of emotional disturbances was comparable to those of children placed in residential treatment centers, had average monthly expenditures for first admissions of 2,734 dollars for services and 228 dollars for administrative fees. Median length of stay in the program was 13.5 months, yielding an estimate of 39,987 dollars for typical length of stay. Length of stay and treatment costs were not related to children's gender or race. Length of stay was significantly longer for children with diagnoses indicating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and behavior disorders. Treatment costs were significantly higher for children with behavior disorders and/or substance use and children who had had prior contact with the juvenile justice system.

Psychotropic medications prescribing patterns for children and adolescents in New York's public mental health system.

CONTEXT: Breakthroughs in the development of effective medications for a number of psychiatric disorders have led to increased use of these compounds in the treatment of children. OBJECTIVES: To understand the use of psychotropic medications in the treatment of children, a state-wide study was undertaken based on the data collected in a large planning study. DATA AND SETTING: A stratified random sample of 10 different program types in New York State produced data on children served in different specialty mental health services. PARTICIPANTS: Randomly selected cases were reviewed at a randomly selected sites to generate a sample of 1592 cases on which data were collected on clinical presentation and service use, including psychotropic medication prescriptions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS-MH) tool was used to provide a reliable review of clinical indicators. RESULTS: Psychotropic medication use is common in the children's public mental health service system in New York. Most children served in high intensity settings receive medication as a part of their treatment. It appears that most prescriptions for stimulants and antidepressants are consistent with either diagnostic or symptom indications. Many children with these indications are not on medications. On the other hand, a large number of children without evidence of psychosis receive antipsychotic medications. CONCLUSION: The evidence suggests that stimulant and antidepressant are not over-prescribed. However, the use of antipsychotic medications for other indications is a priority for further research.