The age period of adolescence is significant for epidemiologic research because of the emergence of emotional and behavioral problems, which occur during this time. Many studies have shown that few of the adolescents identified as suffering significant psychological disturbance receive help from specialist mental health agencies. The recognition of this gap between identified need in the community and the utilisation of services underlies the pathways model proposed by Goldberg and Huxley (1980). Understanding the pathways by which the distressed person reaches specialist services may assist in the improvement of the quality of mental health care in the community. The studies of pathways have mainly focused on adult populations. However the dominant patterns of General Practitioner and Medical pathways found in these studies are inconsistent with those of adolescents. Their different level of social and emotional development affects both how they seek help and how their problems are perceived by significant others. This study examined the records of initial contact for adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, who were referred to three community based mental health clinics serving a regional health district of Brisbane, during the period of 1 June 1997 to 30 June, 1998. The results showed that the pathways by which adolescents reach mental health services were broader in scope than those of adults. Parent, Education Professionals and General Practitioners were the dominant pathways to service. The factors most commonly presented to mental health services at the initiation of help seeking were familial/life event problems and behavioral problems. A notable feature in the presentations was the alarming and disturbing quality of a substantial proportion of the identified problems. It is considered that the social impact of the problems is a strong precipitant in referral. The significant findings of the study are that the pathways vary by the age and sex of the adolescent, and that some presentation problems are more highly associated with particular pathways.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among early parenting experiences, adult mental health functioning, and adult parenting behaviors among a population of incarcerated women in San Bernardino, CA. An archival data set was utilized. Data were collected from three hundred thirty-six female participants in the San Bernardino County Jail System in 2011, aged 18 – 60 years (M = 34.02). Only those who are mothers (N=132), with children between the ages of two and 18 years old, participated in the current study. Structural equation modeling was conducted using EQS. Results showed that early experiences, specifically adverse childhood experiences, were strongly predictive of adult mental health. Surprisingly, adult mental health was not predictive of adult parenting behaviors. Adult parenting behaviors, though, were strongly predictive of the quality of parent-child relationship. Contrary to expectation, the hypothesized relationship between early experiences and adult parenting behaviors was not supported. The implication of these findings is that the central task of interventions seeking to improve adult mental health should include a focus on the impact of negative early experiences.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / The Support Nuclei for Family Health (SNFH) born within the Primary Health Care (PHC), as a resolution attempt, especially towards the issues that relate to the integrality of care and the broadening of the scope of actions of the Family Health Strategy (FHS). The Mental Health (MH) arises in SNFH by insertion of professionals from this field, since in their structuring and organizational rules, despite working in a team and be highly interdisciplinary, some professions are responsible for conducting such care lines.By critically scrolling through the route of health policy, focusing on the FHS, we think the SNFH as one of the places where the professional practice seemed strategic to the reflections that we wanted to produce in this research. Thus, we aimed to investigate the MH actions that are evident in professional practice in the SNFH at the FHS in Fortaleza, Cearà - Brazil. We used to do so within the qualitative health research, the proposal of the methodological triangulation, through Flowcharts Analyzers (FA) Focus Groups (FG) and Free Observations (FO), with the goal of combining the techniques of construction information around the research object because this gave us the opportunity to develop the research exploring different views and procedures, giving us more stability and rigor in approaching the object. Through theoretical and methodological affiliation to Hermeneutic-Dialectic, whose paradigmatic approach concerns the comprehensive critical posture, we present a construction of qualitative data in the lines of analysis, MH Practices in the PHC, Work Process in SNFH and "Unpublished" and "Viable" in SM in the FHS, which dialogued with the historical and conceptual apparatus presented in theoretical researches. The problematic created between the unpublished and the viable within the MH in SNFH meant that, given the practices developed - sometimes understood as new - performance/attention models systematized in daily life and organization of the work process in teams SNFH, interactioning with teams of reference, the viable - which "is the case" and "not the case" to the SNFH - is decided before the contextual markers of each care arrangement. Future studies may complement the results, especially regarding the need to complement the gaze of the reference teams on health practices. However, researching professional practice in mental health in the FHS, "in these SNFH cases", was an instrument to promote reflection for training new professionals, and has served to foster the attitude of (self-) criticism towards the practice, or praxis, of the current field workers, and especially a device for evaluating the quality of care, so important to advocate policies that look for differences, as the FHS, for the Unified Health System. / Os NÃcleos de Apoio à SaÃde da FamÃlia (NASF) nascem, no Ãmbito da AtenÃÃo PrimÃria à SaÃde (APS), como tentativa de resoluÃÃo, sobretudo, das questÃes que se relacionam à integralidade do cuidado e ampliaÃÃo do escopo de aÃÃes da EstratÃgia SaÃde da FamÃlia (ESF). A SaÃde Mental (SM) surge no NASF por meio da inserÃÃo de profissionais deste campo, jà que em sua estruturaÃÃo normativa e organizativa, apesar do trabalho ser eminentemente em equipe e interdisciplinar, sÃo algumas categorias profissionais as responsÃveis por conduzir tais linhas de cuidado. Ao percorrer criticamente o percurso da polÃtica de saÃde, focando a ESF, pensamos o NASF como um dos espaÃos em que a prÃtica profissional pareceu estratÃgica para as reflexÃes que quisemos produzir nesta pesquisa. Assim, tivemos como objetivo investigar as aÃÃes em SM que se evidenciam na prÃtica dos profissionais do NASF na ESF do municÃpio de Fortaleza, Cearà - Brasil. Utilizamos, para isso, no Ãmbito da pesquisa qualitativa em saÃde, a proposta de triangulaÃÃo metodolÃgica, atravÃs dos Fluxogramas Analisadores (FA), Grupos Focais (GF) e ObservaÃÃes Livres (OL), com o objetivo de combinar as tÃcnicas de construÃÃo das informaÃÃes em torno do objeto de pesquisa, pois esta nos forneceu a possibilidade de realizar a investigaÃÃo explorando diferentes visÃes e procedimentos, dando-nos mais estabilidade e rigor na aproximaÃÃo com o objeto. AtravÃs da filiaÃÃo teÃrico-metodolÃgica à HermenÃutica-DialÃtica, cujo enfoque paradigmÃtico diz respeito à postura crÃtica-compreensiva, apresentamos uma construÃÃo de dados qualitativos em que os eixos de anÃlise, PrÃticas de SM na APS, Processo de Trabalho no NASF e o âInÃditoâ e o âViÃvelâ em SM na ESF, dialogaram com o aparato histÃrico e conceitual apresentado nos referenciais teÃricos da pesquisa. A problemÃtica criada entre o inÃdito e o viÃvel no Ãmbito da SM no NASF quis dizer que, diante das prÃticas desenvolvidas - por vezes entendidas como novas -, modelos de atuaÃÃo/atenÃÃo sistematizados no cotidiano e organizaÃÃo do processo de trabalho nas equipes NASF, em interaÃÃo com as equipes de referÃncia, o viÃvel - o que âà casoâ e o que ânÃo à casoâ do NASF - à decidido diante dos marcadores contextuais de cada arranjo assistencial. Trabalhos futuros podem complementar os resultados encontrados, sobretudo no tocante à necessidade de complementaÃÃo do olhar das equipes de referÃncia sobre as prÃticas em saÃde. Entretanto, pesquisar a prÃtica profissional em saÃde mental na ESF, ânesses casos de NASFâ, foi instrumento promotor de reflexÃo para a formaÃÃo de novos profissionais, alÃm de ter servido de fomento a postura (auto) crÃtica sobre prÃtica, ou prÃxis, dos atuais trabalhadores do campo e, principalmente, um dispositivo de avaliaÃÃo da qualidade da assistÃncia, tÃo importante para as polÃticas que preconizam o olhar Ãs singularidades, como a ESF, para o Sistema Ãnico de SaÃde.