EMPIRICAL-STUDY OF MENTAL-HEALTH PROFESSIONALS KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE CONCEPT OF AGE APPROPRIATENESS

Questionnaires on age appropriateness were completed by 100 mental hea lth professionals from 10 states. In general, the respondents were fam iliar with the concept and had learned about age appropriateness from a variety of sources. Age appropriateness was defined in terms of chro nological age rather than mental age or the two concepts combined. Res pondents viewed it as a particularly important component in treatment success, especially in working with people who have developmental disa bilities, adolescents, and young adults. Implications of these finding s and suggestions for future research were provided.