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Mental Health Service Use Among High School Students Exposed to Interpersonal Violence
Author(s) -
Green Jennifer Greif,
Johnson Renee M.,
Dunn Erin C.,
Lindsey Michael,
Xuan Ziming,
Zaslavsky Alan M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12125
Subject(s) - mental health , psychosocial , domestic violence , poison control , clinical psychology , medicine , suicide prevention , sexual violence , odds ratio , psychology , psychiatry , demography , environmental health , nursing , pathology , sociology
BACKGROUND Violence‐exposed youth rarely receive mental health services, even though exposure increases risk for academic and psychosocial problems. This study examines the association between violence exposure and mental health service contact. The 4 forms of violence exposure were peer, family, sexual, and witnessing. METHODS Data are from 1534 Boston public high school students who participated in a 2008 self‐report survey of violence exposure and its correlates. Multivariate logistic regressions estimated associations between each form of violence with service contact, then examined whether associations persisted when controlling for suicidality and self‐injurious behaviors. RESULTS In unadjusted models, violence‐exposed students more often reported service contact than their peers. However, in multivariate models, only exposure to family (odds ratio [ OR ] = 1.69, 95% confidence interval [ CI ] = 1.23‐2.31) and sexual violence ( OR = 2.34, 95% CI = 1.29‐4.20) were associated with service contact. Associations attenuated when controlling for suicidality and self‐injurious behaviors, indicating they were largely explained by self‐harm. Sexual violence alone remained associated with mental health service contact in fully adjusted models, but only for girls ( OR =3.32, 95% CI =1.30‐8.45), suggesting sex‐specific pathways. CONCLUSIONS Associations between adolescent violence exposure and mental health service contact vary by forms of exposure. Outreach to a broader set of exposed youth may reduce the impact of violence and its consequences for vulnerable students.