A framework for the economic analysis of child and adolescent mental disorders.

Measuring the burden of disease associated with child and adolescent mental disorders is a challenge. The lack of data on cost and intervention effectiveness has impeded the ability to gain support for expenditures for treatment, training and programme development. A better understanding of economic analysis by researchers, clinicians, and advocates can promote initiatives to gain needed economic data to inform policy and programme development. Based on a critical review of the literature and the development of an economic hypothesis, this paper proposes a specific approach to the economic analysis of the burden of child and adolescent mental disorders utilizing accessible outcome data.