ARTICLES
Mental Health Service Use Among 18-Year-Old Adolescent Boys: A Prospective 10-Year Follow-up Study

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ABSTRACT

Objective

To study prevalence and factors associated with mental health service use among 18-year-old adolescent boys.

Method

Predictors at age 8 and factors at age 18 associated with mental health service use during the preceding 12 months were studied in a general population sample of 2,316 Finnish boys born in 1981 attending military call-up (79% of the original sample).

Results

Within the preceding 12 months, 2.1% of the boys had used mental health services. At age 18, internalizing, anxious-depressive, and withdrawal symptoms; health problems; not living with parents; use of illicit drugs; high level of alcohol use; and regular smoking were independently associated with service use. At age 8, a high level of emotional and behavioral symptoms, need for referral, and low school performance according to teacher evaluations predicted service use 10 years later.

Conclusions

Only a minority of adolescents with severe problems had used mental health services. Because of the wide range of problems and comorbidity among service users, there is a need for integration of different services. Education services have a central role in the early detection of those who will later use mental health services.

Section snippets

METHOD

This investigation is part of the nationwide From a Boy to a Man study, a 10-year follow-up study included in the Epidemiological Multicenter Child Psychiatric Study in Finland (Almqvist et al., 1999). The research plan was approved by the Joint Commission on Ethics of Turku University and Turku University Central Hospital. The first assessment was conducted in October and November 1989, and the follow-up assessment 10 years later at the time of call-up of this age group of young men, between

Use of Services

Altogether, 48 (2.1%) of 2,316 respondents had sought professional help during the previous 12 months because of behavioral, emotional, or relational problems. Seven respondents (0.3% of the total sample) had been in psychiatric inpatient treatment, and the rest of the group had used outpatient mental health services. When assessed with a single question “Do you have emotional, behavioral or relational problems?,” only 4.5% of the 515 with mild problems, and 15.7% of the 89 with moderate or

Use of Services

Only approximately 2% of 18-year-old boys had used mental services during the previous 12 months, a rate considerably lower than the estimated population prevalence of psychopathology among adolescents. This result is alarming because only 10% of those within the clinical range on the YASR Total Problem Scale and 15% of those reporting definite or severe perceived problems when assessed with a single question “Do you have emotional, behavioral, or relational problems?” had been in contact with

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  • Cited by (0)

    This study was supported by the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, and Signe and Arne Gyllenberg Foundation.

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