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Immigrant Status, Mental Health Need, and Mental Health Service Utilization Among High-Risk Hispanic and Asian Pacific Islander Youth

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Abstract

This study examined youth mental health service (MHS) use as a function of family immigrant status and type of mental health need (internalizing vs. externalizing). A sample of Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander families (youth ages 11–18; N = 457) involved with public sectors of care provided reports of youth mental health need during an initial interview and MHS use was examined prospectively over 2 years. While externalizing need predicted specialty and school-based MHS use in the overall sample, family immigrant status moderated the association between youth need and specialty MHS use such that immigrant youth were more likely to receive services for externalizing need and less likely to receive services for internalizing need relative to non-immigrant youth.

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Acknowledgments

The Patterns of Youth Mental Health Care in Public Service Systems Study (Richard L. Hough, Principal Investigator) was supported by NIMH Grant U01 MH55282. Preparation of this article was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship awarded to the first author.

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Correspondence to Omar G. Gudiño.

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Gudiño, O.G., Lau, A.S. & Hough, R.L. Immigrant Status, Mental Health Need, and Mental Health Service Utilization Among High-Risk Hispanic and Asian Pacific Islander Youth. Child Youth Care Forum 37, 139–152 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-008-9056-4

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