Child factors associated with parent involvement in usual clinical care of children and adolescents: a national register study.

The study examined the role of child level characteristics of age, gender, disorder and experience of family breakdown on parent involvement in the treatment of children and adolescents in a usual clinical care setting. Data from the national register of 20,856 children and adolescents treated in psychiatric hospitals and clinics in Norway in 2002 were analyzed using a three-level hierarchical model. Consultations attended by the child, mother and father were constructed as level 1, child characteristics as level 2 and clinics as level 3. Results indicated that 42% of the variance was explained by within-family differences of consultations and 56% by child characteristics. Only 2% of the variance was explained by clinic-to-clinic differences. In the total model, child factors of gender, disorder and family breakdown (but not age) were significant predictors of consultation with children and parents. Therapists should take into account the role of the gender, disorder and family breakdown in promoting parent involvement and hindering premature termination.