Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Department
Psychology
Sub-Department
School Psychology
First Advisor
Mark Weist
Abstract
Many youth present emotional or behavioral difficulties at levels that necessitate mental health services, yet few receive these needed services. However, school mental health services are thought to improve access to mental health services for youth and families over and above traditional community mental health centers. The purpose of the current study was to expand on existing research by examining community-level and geographic predictors of the utilization of school mental health or community mental health services. Within the context of a large, federally funded trial, I examined how community rurality, ethnic/racial makeup and drive time predicted the use of either school mental health or community mental health services while controlling for county of residence and median household income. Service utilization at schools versus the community mental health center was not predicted by the community- or geographiclevel predictors examined in the current study. However some interesting descriptive findings did emerge that may lend preliminary support to the notion that school mental health services help improve geographic accessibility for those youth that live furthest from the community mental health center. Implications for future research are discussed.
Rights
© 2015, Heather L. McDaniel
Recommended Citation
McDaniel, H. L.(2015). Using Geographical Information Systems to Investigate Access to School Mental Heath Services. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3125