Abstract
The ratings of 70 medical student therapists in their psychiatric clerkships were matched with the consumers of their services-70 parents obtaining a psychiatric evaluation for their children in an outpatient clinic. The pairs were asked to rate factors which influenced the mental health services provided, including the economic and socio-cultural backgrounds of the child and therapist. Parents were found to rate these factors as less influential than the medical studient therapists, who tended to be more conservative about their own effectiveness as therapists. The students also perceived the patients' personalities and cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds as more influential to the patient-therapist relationship than did the parents. Suggestions are made for more educational information regarding metnal health services for the public and for medical students to increase their knowledge and the effectiveness of the patient-therapist relationship in the intervention process and insight into what the process of prevention should be.
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This research was funded by the Center for Afro-American Studies, University of California at Los Angeles, grant number 4-4476460-07427-2.
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Wyatt, G.E., Bass, B.A., Powell, G.J. et al. Parents' and medical student therapists' perceptions of child mental health services: A teaching program in prevention and early intervention. Child Psych Hum Dev 13, 139–152 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00705855
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00705855