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The relationship of personal financial status to the utilization of community mental health centers in rural appalachia
Author(s) -
Banziger George,
Foos David
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00896804
Subject(s) - appalachia , mental health , receipt , unemployment , environmental health , welfare , marital status , gerontology , logistic regression , psychology , socioeconomic status , socioeconomics , demographic economics , geography , economic growth , business , medicine , economics , psychiatry , paleontology , market economy , population , accounting , biology
As a follow-up to an aggregate study of the relationship of economic factors to the utilization of mental health facilities, this study, using individual data, attempted to determine the associative strengths of income factors--welfare and unemployment--for utilization of community mental health centers (CMHCs) in rural Appalachia. On the basis of the earlier study and of previous studies of social class and utilization of CMHCs it was hypothesized that for this sample of 151 clients of eight CMHCs in Ohio and West Virginia, unemployment and welfare factors would be most strongly associated with utilization. A multiple regression analysis indicated that when compared to other independent variables, such as life satisfaction, demographic, and personal factors, receipt of food stamps was the most important factor in relating to utilization; this relationship was considerably stronger when the more rural areas were separated for analysis. Some relationship between employment status and utilization was also found. The results are discussed in terms of unique patterns of social service dependency in more rural Appalachia.