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Mental Health Service Utilization Among Urban Adolescents: The Roles Of Perceived Mental Health Problems, Attitudes Towards Professional Help, And Stigma, Yi Tak Tsang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Mental health among adolescents is widely acknowledged as a significant concern in the United States. Based on a national survey, Merikangas et al. (2010) found that among 13-17 year olds, 42% to 48% reported experiencing mental health concerns. It is estimated that only half of adolescents with mental health problems utilize mental health services (Costello et al., 2014). An initial study found that caregivers of disadvantaged youth appeared to function as the “gatekeepers” to mental health services (Tsang et al., 2020). Also, the results suggested that positive attitude towards professional psychological help, but not stigma, predicted service enrollment. The current …

Mental Health Service Utilization Among At-Risk Urban Adolescents: The Relative Contributions Of Perceived Need, Attitude, And Spirituality/Religiosity, Yi Tak Tsang

Wayne State University Theses

Adolescence has been described as “a time of storm and stress” (Arnett, 1999; Hall, 1904). In fact, a national survey in the United States estimated that adolescents were twice as likely than adults to report at least one major depressive episode in the past 12 months (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2016). In particular, adolescents who are poor, who belong to ethnic minority groups, and who live in urban neighborhoods are more vulnerable to mood and behavioral symptoms than their White/Caucasian counterparts who grow up in relatively affluent suburban and rural areas (Beyers, Bates, Pettit, & Dodge, 2003; …

The Role Of Individual Character Strengths In Adolescent Academic Achievement And Risky School Behavior, Paul Deschamps

Wayne State University Dissertations

Adolescent achievement is a major developmental task in adolescence and reducing Risky School Behaviors is an important part of the process. Patterns of adolescent achievement and general development are the result of the cumulative process that includes a long history of experience and socialization in school, in the family, in the peer group, and in the community. This study is the first to expand understanding of these key interrelated but unique outcome variables of both Academic Achievement and risky School Behavior through examination of individual Character Strengths in the presence of other key intrapersonal and contextual variables from multiple systems …

Temporal Relationships Between Psychological Distress And Risky Behaviors In A Sample Of Homeless And At-Risk Youth, Tegan Lesperance

Wayne State University Theses

The present study examined temporal relationships between psychological distress and two types of risk behavior; risky sexual behavior and substance abuse/dependence, in a sample of 253 at-risk youth. Using structural equation modeling, the self-medication and risk-first hypotheses were tested using longitudinal data spanning 7 years. Each model lent support to both hypotheses, further supporting the relationship between risk-taking behaviors and psychological distress among youth. Early psychological distress predicted later involvement in risky sexual behaviors, while later distress predicted substance abuse/dependence. Earlier risky sexual behaviors and substance abuse/dependence predicted psychological distress at later time points. These findings suggest the need to …

Values And Problem Behaviors In Hong Kong Adolescents, Phebe Karen Lam

Wayne State University Dissertations

The present study examined sensation seeking, psychological problem behaviors, values orientation, and problem behaviors of smoking, alcohol use, and delinquency among Hong Kong adolescents studying in high school of two different ability levels. Adolescents (N = 1385) from a band one and band three level high school in Hong Kong were assessed using the Sensation Seeking Scale Form-V (SSS-V), Youth Self Report (YSR), Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ), and the Adolescent Health and Development Questionnaire (AHDQ), along with several demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, grade level, employment).

Regression analyses were employed to determine the contribution of the significantly correlated variables in …