Children and young people’s reported contact with professional services for mental health concerns: a secondary data analysis

Children and young people’s mental health services have been under increasing pressure following COVID-19. Understanding, for which channels help is sought from, will highlight services needing support. This study aims to explore the professional services that parents of children, and young people get help from when they have a concern for the child’s/their mental health. Secondary analysis of data is taken from Mental Health of Children and Young People in England Survey, 2017. 7608 reports of mental health-related contact with professional services from parents of 5–16 year-olds and self-reports from young people aged 17–19 were available. Service contact was reported by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) diagnosis, age, gender and ethnicity. Less than two-thirds of children and young people with a DSM-V diagnosis (63.5% (95% CI 58.6–68.1) aged 5–10, and 64.0% (95% CI 59.4–68.4) aged 11–16) reported contact with any professional services. The figure was lower for those aged 17–19; 50.1% (95% CI 42.8–58.2), p = 0.005. Children and young people aged 5–16 from Black (11.7%; 95% CI 2.4–41.4), Asian (55.1%; 95% CI 34.7–73.9) and Mixed (46.0%; 95% CI 32.4–60.3) ethnic groups reported less contact with professional services compared to those from the White group (66.9%; 95% CI 63.5–70.2). Patterns of service access during the three main educational stages aid with understanding service need during childhood. These lower levels of reported service access for young people aged 17–19 with a DSM-V diagnosis and those in ethnic minority groups demand further investigation.