SynthesisSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2018
Pathways to mental health services for young people: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06410508 (Evaluation of a Brief Intervention to Improve Engagement and Recovery for At-risk Youth Enrolled in Early Intervention Services for Psychosis .), which is not on this map. Cited by 120 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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.
Evaluation of a Brief Intervention to Improve Engagement and Recovery for At-risk Youth Enrolled in Early Intervention Services for Psychosis .
Who cites it
120 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The use of social prescribing and community-based wellbeing activities as a potential prevention and early intervention pathway to improve adolescent emotional and social development: a systematic mapping review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Transgender and gender diverse youths' experiences of healthcare: A systematic review of qualitative studies.Journal of child health care : for professionals working with children in the hospital and community · 2025Pooled it
- Mental health literacy in children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries: a mixed studies systematic review and narrative synthesis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review of longitudinal studies of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in first-episode psychosis: course and associated factors.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2021Pooled it
- The Role of Technology and the Continuum of Care for Youth Suicidality: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Pooled it
- Not the story you want? Assessing the fit of a conceptual framework characterising mental health recovery narratives.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2020Pooled it
- Young adults' access to mental health care: integrating the Primary Care Behavioral Health model into routine care in Sweden.BMC health services research · 2026Trial
- "It was Like My World fell Apart" Parents Experiences of Seeking Support for an Adolescent Mental Health Difficulty.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Emerging Adults' Experiences of Digital Measurement-Based Care in Routine Mental Health Care: Qualitative Study and Conceptual Synthesis.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Improving Digital Measurement-Based Care Within Emerging Adult Mental Health Care Pathways: Protocol for a Co-Design Phase Embedded in a Multimethod Rapid Learning Health System Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Pathways to Mental Health Care: The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Help Seeking for Psychosis.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Youth supporting youth online: A content analysis of peer counselling at the online chat of @ease.Internet interventions · 2026Article
- Understanding child mental health care pathways in community-based services: a qualitative study in a French child and adolescent medico-social centre (CMPP).BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Documenting the Reach and Perceptions of Youth Towards a Community-based Mental Health Initiative Implemented in a Rural and Minority Language Setting.Community mental health journal · 2026Article
- Profiles of Quality of Outpatient Care Received Among Adolescents and Young Adults with Health Mental Disorders.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2026Article
- Parent-child mental health literacy discordance and adolescent depression and anxiety: a population-based cross-sectional study.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2026Article
- Social Support Among Minoritized Emerging Adults With Serious Psychological Health Issues.Emerging adulthood (Print) · 2026Article
- Mental Health Professionals' Perspectives on Digital Remote Monitoring in Services for People with Psychosis.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Article
- Evaluating the implementation of a mental health joint response with young people and families: protocol for the care responders study, a realist and health economic evaluation.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Article
60 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWhile early access to appropriate care can minimise the sequelae of mental illnesses, little is known about how youths come to access mental healthcare. We therefore conducted a systematic review to synthesise literature on the pathways to care of youths across a range of mental health problems.
methodsStudies were identified through searches of electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, HealthSTAR and CINAHL), supplemented by backward and forward mapping and hand searching. We included studies on the pathways to mental healthcare of individuals aged 11-30 years. Two reviewers independently screened articles and extracted data.
resultsForty-five studies from 26 countries met eligibility criteria. The majority of these studies were from settings that offered services for the early stages of psychosis, and others included inpatient and outpatient settings targeting wide-ranging mental health problems. Generally, youths' pathways to mental healthcare were complex, involved diverse contacts, and, sometimes, undue treatment delays. Across contexts, family/carers, general practitioners and emergency rooms featured prominently in care pathways. There was little standardization in the measurement of pathways.
conclusionsExcept in psychosis, youths' pathways to mental healthcare remain understudied. Pathways to care research may need to be reconceptualised to account for the often transient and overlapping nature of youth mental health presentations, and the possibility that what constitutes optimal care may vary. Despite these complexities, additional research, using standardized methodology, can yield a greater understanding of the help-seeking behaviours of youths and those acting on their behalf; service responses to help-seeking; and the determinants of pathways. This understanding is critical to inform ongoing initatives to transform youth mental healthcare.
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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.