Autism spectrum disorder grown up: a chart review of adult functioning.

Objective: To survey the adult functioning of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and to compare the outcomes for those diagnosed in childhood with those diagnosed as adults.

Methods: Using a chart review, we evaluated the adult outcomes for 45 individuals diagnosed with ASD prior to age 18, and compared this with the functioning of 35 patients whose ASD was identified after 18 years. Concurrent mental illnesses were noted for both groups.

Too many sad stories: clinician stress and coping.

Introduction: Mental health clinicians make their careers working with patients and families who have experienced extremes of stress and trauma.

Methods: The psychological effects on the caregiver of prolonged therapeutic work with traumatized patients have previously been studied within the theoretical frameworks of Burnout, Secondary Post Traumatic Stress and Vicarious Traumatization.

Results: We report a qualitative study of experienced clinicians' responses to the stressors inherent in such therapeutic work, and the coping strategies they developed.

Early intervention with difficult to engage, 'high-risk' youth: evaluating an intensive outreach approach in youth mental health.

Background: Although intensive outreach (IO) models such as assertive community treatment and intensive case management have a strong evidence base in adult psychiatry, their effectiveness in the early intervention sector is unknown.

Aim: To explore client characteristics and treatment effects in a group of difficult to engage, 'high-risk' young people, seen by the Intensive Mobile Youth Outreach Service (IMYOS, ORYGEN Youth Heath) in Western Metropolitan Melbourne.

Methods: The clinical files of 47 clients were audited, targeting demographic and treatment outcome data prior to and during IMYOS involvement.

Consumer satisfaction with an adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit.

Objective: To explore factors influencing the satisfaction of patients, parents, and referring clinicians who used the services of an adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit, and to explore how levels of satisfaction related to the patient's symptomatic and functional improvement during the admission.

Method: All 105 adolescents, their families, and the referring community clinicians who used an inpatient service over a 1-year period were asked to rate the patient's symptoms and functioning on admission, at discharge, and 4 months after the patient's return to the community. We obtained satisfaction ratings at discharge, and consumers were asked to rate helpfulness of the ward experience at 4 months postdischarge.

Child Behaviour Checklist classification of behaviour disorder.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the applicability of the published clinical cut-off scores of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) for the classification of behaviour disorders.

Methodology: Child Behaviour Checklists were obtained for 1342 subjects newly referred to the six major mental health centres in Melbourne. The normative community sample of 1002 7-, 12- and 15-year-olds was drawn from a school-based asthma prevalence study.