Almost half of child mental health patients need adult specialist care

MedicalXpress | août 04, 2026

Four in 10 children who attend Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Scotland go on to attend specialist psychiatric services as adults, according to new research. This figure increases for teenagers, with half of those attending CAMHS as teens going on to access adult mental health services by their early 30s—far more than previous research has suggested.