LAUSR

Objective The primary aim of this study was to evaluate among paediatric trainees their attitudes, perceived barriers, perceived skill level, and training needs in the management of child and adolescent mental health disorders. Methods An online survey link was sent out to paediatric trainees with the Royal College of physicians, Ireland. Responses were analysed on SPSS. Results There were a total of 99 respondents at different training stages. The responses represented 92% of Irish paediatric hospitals. 84% of trainees reported being involved in the management of a child with a mental health disorder. The most common reasons cited for referral to psychiatry was for suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm, eating disorders and mood/anxiety disorders with 37% of trainees making referrals more than once a month. Reported Barriers to referral included service capacity, a lack of awareness of referral pathway and lack of prioritisation of mental health needs of children and adolescents. Although the vast majority of trainees (96%) reported seeing an increase in the number of children and young people presenting to hospital with a mental health component to their presentation only 8% of trainees felt well prepared in dealing with child and adolescent mental health issues. They expressed a general lack of adequate amount of education and teaching in child and adolescent mental health with 64% of trainees also expressing a lack of support in dealing with presentations to their local hospital. All respondents expressed interest in having more educational and training opportunities for mental health disorders introduced as part of their paediatric training. There was no statistically significant difference between responses from early stage and late stage trainees. Conclusion Mental health disorders affect 10–20% of children and adolescents worldwide and is projected to become one of the worlds’ leading disabilities in the future. Suicide is the second most common cause of death in adolescents with more young people presenting to paediatric hospitals with mental illness as a presenting complaint or as a component of their presentation. With limited numbers of trained clinicians for the relatively large number of children with mental health problems, there is need for paediatricians to have good skills in mental health in both acute and chronic illness settings. The current curriculum contains mental health education but trainees report their needs are not being adequately met. The results of this study indicates needs for more supports around training in this area given the changing epidemiology.