INTRODUCTION: The high rates of dropout in psychotherapy and the shortage of studies on treatment dropout in child psychotherapy are strong reasons for further research on this topic. The literature suggests that some sociodemographic and clinical variables could predict psychotherapy outcome. The objective of the present study was to identify predictors of treatment dropout in child psychotherapy. METHODS: This is a retrospective study involving the analysis of medical records of two institutions that provide psychological care to children in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. RESULTS: We analyzed the medical records of 2,106 children. Of these, 200 children were discharged from treatment and 793 dropped out. The two groups were compared, and the results suggest that boys have higher risk of dropping out, while children referred by neurologists or psychologists are at a lower risk of dropping out. After six months of treatment, the dropout risk is considerably reduced. DISCUSSION: The results are discussed based on the literature on gender, treatment dropout and child psychotherapy. Some hypotheses were proposed to explain the associations and lack of associations found in the present study. CONCLUSIONS: Knowing predictors of dropout from psychotherapy makes it possible for therapists to identify patients belonging to the risk group in the beginning of treatment. Therefore, they can try to directly prevent aspects related to resistance and negative transference of these patients and their relatives, mainly during the first 6 months of treatment. Implementing early intervention techniques with the parents and delivering transdisciplinary therapies are possible solutions to avoid dropout.
Dropout; analytical psychotherapy; children
