PARENTAL SATISFACTION WITH INTERVENTION - DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RESPONDENTS AND NONRESPONDENTS TO A POSTAL QUESTIONNAIRE

Parental satisfaction with a child and adolescent psychology service w as assessed by postal questionnaire. Follow-up interviews were conduct ed with 88 per cent of the sample, 36 postal questionnaire respondents and 21 non-respondents. Questionnaire non-respondents were more likel y to have dropped out of therapy, had fewer appointments, evaluated th e service more negatively and differed from respondents in their parti cular sources of dissatisfaction. They were significantly more dissati sfied with where they met the psychologist and in what family composit ion they were seen whereas questionnaire respondents were more dissati sfied with the wait before first appointment and the total number of a ppointments offered. The implications for future studies are discussed and the need to assess the satisfaction of postal nonrespondents emph asized.