Factors Associated With Service Use for Young Adolescents With Mental Health Problems

The objective of the study wasto identify factors associated withuse of services for adolescent mental health problems in an Australian community-basedsample. Logistic regression analysis was conducted on data collected from 636 parentsand their adolescent child to identify individual and family variables predicting parentreport of service use for mental health problems in the adolescent 12 months later. Theservices most reported by parents to have been accessed were school-based ones.Multivariate analysis found that the following were associated with service use 12months later: the adolescent being female, parent report of peer problems andhyperactivity, single-parent household, the parent being Australian born, and priorservice use by the adolescent. Parental overcontrol was associated with reducedlikelihood of service use at follow-up. No association was found between service use atfollow-up and parent gender, socioeconomic status, number of siblings, parentpsychopathology, family social connectedness, and prior service use by the parent. Noassociation was also found for family environment factors, parental attachment, or forthe adolescent’s emotional competence or use of social support. The results indicatethat families provide a potential target for interventions aimed at increasing use ofprofessional services for adolescent mental health problems