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Mental Health Service Utilization Among African-American Adolescents, Marilyn Franklin

Wayne State University Dissertations

Underutilization of mental health services by ethnic minorities has been identified as a major public health threat by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001). Research on ethnic disparities has focused on identifying the sociodemographic correlates of between group differences in treatment attendance. The current study adds to the utilization literature by exploring within group differences amongst a sample of African-American families. Based on extant literature related to treatment utilization in other samples, this study examined the associations between multiple modifiable factors and adolescent treatment engagement amongst 90 African-American caregiver-adolescent dyads.

Consistent with previous research, psychological symptoms, functional …