Study: Mistreated adolescents need help

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A study of young adults suggests fewer than 25 percent of those mistreated as youths receive adequate mental health treatment, U.S. psychologists said.

Mental health difficulties among young adults mistreated earlier in their lives often go untreated as they transition to adulthood, said the study from psychologists at Research Triangle Institute, based in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The study, published in Psychiatric Services, found more than 48 percent of young adults suspected of being mistreated as youths had indicators of mental health problems, but fewer than 25 percent of those used mental health services, psychologist Heather Ringeisen, the study's lead author, said.

"The results show the strong need for 'transition' services beginning in adolescence and continuing through young adulthood," Ringeisen said.

Ringeisen's team examined more than 600 young adults from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a national study of children.