ReviewEvidence-based mental health2018
Evaluation of the minimum age for consent to mental health treatment with the minimum age of criminal responsibility in children and adolescents: a global comparison.
Review in Evidence-based mental health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Child and adolescent mental health burden, policies, and services in high-income countries and areas in the Western Pacific Region.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Review
- Pediatric Oncology Hospice: A Comprehensive Review.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2024Review
- The Ethical Complexity of Medical Decision Making in the Adolescent Oncology Patient.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Article
- Young people's moral attitudes and motivations towards direct-to-consumer genetic testing for inherited risk of Alzheimer disease.European journal of medical genetics · 2021Article
- Psychometric Challenges in the Measurement of Constructs Underlying Criminal Responsibility in Children and Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn many countries, a young person who seeks medical care is not authorised to consent to their own assessment and treatment, yet the same child can be tried for a criminal offence. The absence of child and adolescent mental health legislation in most countries exacerbates the issues young people face in independently accessing mental healthcare. Countries with existing legislation rarely define a minimum age for mental health consent (MAMHC). In stark contrast, nearly all 196 nations studied maintain legislation defining a minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR).
objectiveThis review highlights inconsistent developmental and legal perspectives in defined markers of competency across medical and judicial systems.
methodsA review of the MAMHC was performed and compared with MACR for the 52 countries for which policy data could be identified through publicly available sources.
findingsOnly 18% of countries maintain identifiable mental health policies specific to children's mental health needs. Of those reviewed, only 11 nations maintained a defined MAMHC, with 7 of 11 having a MAMHC 2 years higher than the country's legislated MACR.
conclusionsWith increasing scientific understanding of the influences on child and adolescent decision making, some investment in the evidence-base and reconciliation of the very different approaches to child and adolescent consent is needed. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: A more coherent approach to child and adolescent consent across disciplines could help improve the accessibility of services for young people and facilitate mental health professionals and services as well as criminal justice systems deliver optimal care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.