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Racial Disparities in Mental Health Service Use by Adolescents Who Thought About or Attempted Suicide
Author(s) -
Freedenthal Stacey
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1521/suli.2007.37.1.22
Subject(s) - suicide prevention , mental health , poison control , occupational safety and health , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , psychiatry , odds , medicine , mental health service , clinical psychology , psychology , medical emergency , logistic regression , pathology
Differences in rates and predictors of mental health service use among 2,226 Black, Hispanic, and White adolescents (aged 12–17) who reported recent suicidal thoughts or an attempt were examined. Black adolescents were 65% ( OR = .65, p < .05), and Hispanic adolescents were 55% ( OR = .55, p < .001), as likely as White adolescents to report service use, even when controlling for need for care and ability to secure services. Suicide attempt and psychiatric symptoms each interacted with race to increase the odds of service use uniquely for White adolescents. Results indicate that racial disparities characterize adolescents' mental health service use even when suicide risk increases.