Commentary: Why treatment is the best choice for childhood mental disorders – a commentary on Roest et al. (2022)
Publication date
2023-03
Authors
Dekkers, T.J.
Groenman, A.P.
Cuijpers, P.
Hoekstra, P.J.
Luman, M.
Orobio de Castro, B.
Overbeek, G.
Popma, A.
Rommelse, N.
Salemink, Elske
Editors
Advisors
Supervisors
Document Type
Comment
Metadata
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License
cc_by
Abstract
An important question in mental healthcare for children is whether treatments are effective and safe in the long run. Here, we comment on a recent editorial perspective by Roest et al. (2022), who argue, based on an overview of systematic reviews, ‘that there is no convincing evidence that interventions for the most common childhood disorders are beneficial in the long term’. We believe that the available evidence does not justify this conclusion and express our concern regarding the harmful effects of their message. We show that there is evidence to suggest beneficial longer term treatment effects for each of the disorders and explain why evidence-based treatment should be offered to children with mental disorders.
Keywords
Child psychopathology, evidence-based treatment, long-term effects, mental healthcare, Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental health, SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Citation
Dekkers, T J, Groenman, A P, Cuijpers, P, Hoekstra, P J, Luman, M, Orobio de Castro, B, Overbeek, G, Popma, A, Rommelse, N, Salemink, E, Stikkelbroek, Y A J, van den Hoofdakker, B J, van der Oord, S & Leijten, P 2023, 'Commentary : Why treatment is the best choice for childhood mental disorders – a commentary on Roest et al. (2022)', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, vol. 64, no. 3, pp. 470-473. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13715