[Childhood difficulties: representations by the family and caregivers; value of interviews]. / Les difficultés de l'enfant: représentations de la famille et des soignants; intérêt d'une enquête.

This investigation was conducted in 7 consultation centers in child psychiatry of the Lyon region (France). The aim was to evaluate the influence of the care professional's response to the demands of the consulting party, on the evolution of the child. The investigation is based on what is said about the difficulties of the child, as manifested in the way care professionals, parents and children perceive them. Relevant instruments and a reliable methodology are used in assessing these various parameters. Results indicate that what happens in the first interview might be more important than the effective type of intervention in determining the evolution of the subsequent intervention.

[Outcome of care in a pediatric psychiatry outpatient clinic: "photography" of seven consultation centers]. / Le parcours des consultants en pédopsychiatrie: "photographie" de sept centres de consultation.

A survey was carried out on 7 pedopsychiatric outpatient centres in the area of Lyon in order to evaluate the general outcome of care in consulting children and their families. Five public centres (centres médico-psychologiques) and 2 non-profit making private centres (centre médico-psychopédagogiques and centre d'action médico-sociale précoce) were part of the survey which included 706 children and adolescents. The survey showed that many children stop attending these centres; although, the numbers were significantly higher in the public centres compared with the non-profit making private centres. The authors suggest that differences in status and management between the two types of centres, leading to different conditions of functioning, on a practical as well as on a symbolic level, may be responsible, at least in part, for the different outcome in care between the 2 types of centres.