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Persistence of Mental Health Service Use among Latino Children: A Clinical and Community Study

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Abstract

This study examined predictors of treatment persistence (receiving mental health services at two time points one year apart) among children in Puerto Rico who had previously sought care for mental health concerns. Children and their primary caregivers completed interviews one year apart. Treatment persistence was lower among children recruited from community sampling (n = 137) than those children recruited from public and private clinics (N = 381). Persistence was associated with psychological measures of need and co-morbidity only in the clinical sample, while in both samples persistence was associated with measures of family burden and school functioning. In multivariate analyses, persistence was associated in both the clinical and community samples with a measure of school functioning but not with diagnosis, impairment, or parental concerns about the child’s behavior.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health grants R01 MH069849 and R01 MH54827 and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute grant U01 HL072519. Dr. Inkelas was supported by UCLA/Drew Project Export, NCMHD, P20MD000148.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Services and Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA

    Alexander N. Ortega & Moira Inkelas

  2. UCLA School of Public Health, Center for Eliminating Health Disparities, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Alexander N. Ortega

  3. Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, PR, USA

    Ligia Chavez & Glorisa Canino

Authors
  1. Alexander N. Ortega
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  2. Ligia Chavez
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  3. Moira Inkelas
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  4. Glorisa Canino
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Correspondence to Alexander N. Ortega.

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Ortega, A.N., Chavez, L., Inkelas, M. et al. Persistence of Mental Health Service Use among Latino Children: A Clinical and Community Study. Adm Policy Ment Health 34, 353–362 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-007-0114-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-007-0114-2

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