This study used the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) to examine the level of consumer satisfaction with children’s (ages 8 to 17 years) outpatient mental health services. Analyses were completed using both individual satisfaction items and a summed scale score. The CSQ scale had satisfactory internal consistency reliability for both mothers (alpha = .96) and children (alpha = .93). Parents’ratings of satisfaction with their child’s treatment were not uniformly consistent with those of the child who was in treatment. Mothers’and children’s ratings were significantly, but only moderately, related. We also found that a child’s satisfaction with outpatient services, relative to that of the parent, may depend on the child’s gender, race, and age. These findings suggest that children’s satisfaction with mental health treatment was complexly determined and should not be inferred from their mothers’degree of satisfaction.
Attkisson, C. C., & Greenfield, T. K. (1996). The Client Satisfaction Questionaire-8 and the Service Satisfaction Questionaire-30. In L. I. Sederer & B. Dickey (Eds.), Outcomes assessment in clinical practice (pp. 120-127). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
2.
Attkisson, C .C., & Greenfield, T. K. (1999). The UCSF Client Satisfaction Scales I. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8. In M. E. Marusih (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment (2nd ed., pp. 1333-1346). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
3.
Brannan, A. M., Sonnichsen, S. E., & Heflinger, C. A. (1996). Measuring satisfaction with children’s mental health services: Validity and reliability of the satisfaction scales. Evaluation and Program Planning, 19(2), 131-141
4.
Byalin, K. (1993). Assessing parental satisfaction with children’s mental health services: A pilot study. Evaluation and Program Planning, 16, 69-72.
5.
Carr-Hill, R. A. (1992). The measurement of patient satisfaction. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 14, 236-249.
6.
Copeland, V. C., & Scholle, S. H. (2000). Patient satisfaction and African American women: A missing link in health services research. African American Perspectives, 6, 48-56.
7.
Costello, E. J., Pescosolido, B. A., Angold, A., & Burns, B. J. (1998). A family network-based model of access to child health services. Research in Community and Mental Health, 9, 165-190.
8.
Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd ed.). New York: Norton.
9.
Freed, L. H., Ellen, J. M., Irwin, C. E., & Millstein, S. G. (1998). Determinants of adolescents’satisfaction with health care providers and intentions to keep follow-up appointments. Journal of Adolescent Health, 22, 475-479.
10.
Garland, A. F., & Besinger, B. A. (1996). Adolescents’ perception of outpatient mental health services. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 5, 355-375.
11.
Greenley, J. R., & Robitschek, C. G. (1991). Evaluation of a comprehensive program for youth with severe mental emotional disorders: An analysis of family experiences and satisfaction. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61, 291-297.
12.
Hall, J. A., & Dornan, M. C. (1988). What patients like about their medical care and how often they are asked: A meta-analysis of the satisfaction literature. Social Science and Medicine, 27, 935-939.
13.
Heflinger, C. A., Sonnichsen, S. E., & Brannan, A. M. (1996). Patient satisfaction with children’s mental health services in a children’s mental health managed care demonstration. Journal of Mental Health Administration, 23, 69-79.
14.
Jerrell, J. M. (1998). Effects of ethnic matching of young clients and mental health staff. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 4, 297-302.
15.
Larsen, D. L., Attkisson, C. C., Hargreaves, W. A., & Nguyen, T. D. (1979). Assessment of client/patient satisfaction: Development of a general scale. Evaluation and Program Planning, 2, 197-207.
16.
Litt, I. F. (1998). Satisfaction with health care: The adolescent’s perspective. Journal of Adolescent Health, 23, 59-60.
17.
Litt, I. F., & Cuskey, W. R. (1984). Satisfaction with health care. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 5, 196-200.
18.
Loff, C. D., Trigg, L. J., & Cassels, C. (1987). An evaluation of consumer satisfaction in a child psychiatric service: Viewpoints of patients and parents. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 132-134.
19.
Logan, D. E., & King, C. A. (2001). Parental facilitation of adolescent mental health service utilization: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8, 319-333.
20.
Marshall, G. N., Hays, R. D., Sherbourne, C. D., & Wells, K. B. (1993). The structure of patient satisfaction with outpatient medical care. Psychological Assessment, 5, 477-483.
21.
Pekarik, G., & Stephenson, L. A. (1988). Adult and child client differences in therapy dropout research. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 17, 316-321.
22.
Perreault, M., Leichner, P., Sabourin, S., & Gendreau, P. (1993). Patient satisfaction with outpatient psychiatric services: Qualitative and quantitative assessments. Evaluation and Program Planning, 16, 109-118.
23.
Roberts, R. E., & Attkisson, C. C. (1983). Assessing client satisfaction among Hispanics. Evaluation and Program Planning, 6, 401-413.
24.
Rosen, L. D., Heckman, T., Carro, M. G., & Burchard, J. D. (1994). Satisfaction, involvement, and unconditional care: The perceptions of children and adolescents receiving wraparound services. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 3, 55-67.
25.
Schwab, M. E., & Stone, K. (1983). Conceptual and methodological issues in the evaluation of children’s satisfaction with their mental health care. Evaluation and Program Planning, 6, 283-289.
26.
Shapiro, J. P., Welker, C. J., & Jacobson, B. J. (1997). The Youth Client Satisfaction Questionnaire: Development, construct validation, and factor structure. Journal of Child Clinical Psychology, 26, 87-98.
27.
Spencer, M. B., Swanson, D. P., & Cunningham, M. (1991). Ethnicity, ethnic identity, and competence formation: Adolescent transition and cultural transformation. Journal of Negro Education, 60, 366-387.
28.
Strasser, S., Aharony, L., & Greenberger, D. (1993, Summer). The patient satisfaction process: Moving toward a comprehensive model. Medical Care Review, 50, 219-248.
29.
Stuntzer-Gibson, D., Koren, P. E., & DeChillo, N. (1995, December). The Youth Satisfaction Questionnaire: What kids think of services. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 76, 616-624.
30.
Walker, J. (2001). Caregivers’views on the cultural appropriateness of services for children with emotional or behavioral disorders. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 10, 315-331.
31.
Yeh, M., & Weisz, J. R. (2001). Why are we here at the clinic? Parentchild (dis)agreement on referral problems at outpatient treatment entry. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 1018-1025.
32.
Young, S. C., Nicholson, J., & Davis, M. (1995). An overview of issues in research on consumer satisfaction with child and adolescent mental health services. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 4, 219-238.
