Peer-reviewed article
Professionals’ perspectives on barriers to improving psychosocial care for adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems – a concept mapping case study
Kateřina Paclíková, Lucia Bosáková, Zuzana Dankulincová Veselská, Peter Tavel, S.A. Reijneveld ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5Rates of emotional and behavioural problems among adolescents are high and rising, which puts pressure on psychosocial care systems. The study asked 33 professionals from 17 institutions to propose measures to improve care, using a participatory method called concept mapping. They proposed 43 measures, grouped into five clusters. Thirteen were rated highly urgent but not yet feasible to implement. Most of these concerned school system changes, the transparency and functioning of the care system, and legislation.
Key points
- 33 professionals from 17 institutions took part.
- Participants proposed 43 measures or interventions, grouped into five clusters.
- 13 measures were seen as highly urgent but not feasible to implement.
- Most of the 13 belonged to clusters on school system changes, transparency and functioning of the care system, and legislative conditions.
- The barriers named were school systems, workforce capacity and system fragmentation.
Limitations
The abstract reports professionals' opinions, not the effects of any intervention, and says nothing about adolescents' own views. It does not name the countries studied, so the country codes come from the metadata hint.
Abstract
Objectives Rates of emotional and behavioural problems (EBP) in adolescence are high and rising, increasing pressure on psychosocial care systems. Professionals working in these systems have excellent insights in the measures needed. Of these, the most urgent and implementable ones have already been elucidated. Our current aim was to identify measures and interventions to improve psychosocial care for adolescents with EBP that professionals perceived as highly urgent but not yet feasible to implement, revealing potential barriers for implementation. Methods We used Concept mapping, a participatory mixed-method approach, combining qualitative data collection with quantitative analysis. Overall, 33 professionals from 17 institutions participated. Results Participants proposed 43 measures/interventions, that could be categorized in five clusters. Of these, 13 were identified as highly urgent but not feasible. Most belonged to clusters related to school system changes, improvement of transparency and functioning of the system of care, and legislative conditions for adolescents with EBP. Conclusion Findings highlight implementation challenges related to school systems, workforce capacity, and system fragmentation. Addressing these challenges will require coordinated system-level approaches and long-term commitment to improve adolescent psychosocial care.