Mental health issues of children and youth encountered by police

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify major characteristics of children and youth with mental health problems who have contact with police officers and to determine which variables lead to the highest probability of police intervention and if there are differences between children and youth compared to adults. Two samples were taken from data obtained from the use of a new police brief mental health screener (interRAI BMHS) in a large southwestern Ontario city between April 2016 and April 2019: 619 cases under age 18 and 4,084 cases over age 18. Univariate and bivariate analysis revealed that all 23 variables on the BMHS were significantly associated with police intervention except for intoxication by drugs or alcohol, squalid home environment, and refusal to take prescribed medication. Variables with the highest odds of police intervention included hallucinations, diminished cognitive skills for daily decision-making, and family or others concerned for potential self-harm. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the variables most predictive of police intervention were hallucinations, lack of insight into their own mental health problems, violent ideation, violence to others, self-injurious attempt in the last 7 days, suicide plan, diminished cognitive skills for daily decision-making, and family or others concerned for self-harm. As to the differences between under and over age 18, adults had higher frequencies of intoxication, hallucinations, delusions, pressured speech, and abnormal thoughts, while under age 18 had slightly higher frequency of socially inappropriate/disruptive behaviour. Risk of harm variables were high in both groups; however, they were clearly higher in the under age 18 group, in particular self-injurious attempt in the last 7 days. The results of this study indicate that there are distinct differences between why police officers intervene with children and youth as opposed to adults which should be reflected in police training and intervention policy.