Abstract: Outcomes research and process studies often struggle to find measures of social service need and utilization that are valid and sensitive to change. This presentation demonstrates the use of the Index of Service Need (ISN) with teenage mothers. The ISN considers the need and utilization of 12 services frequently used by teenage mothers and can be scored to ascertain three aspects of service utilization: use of needed services, use of unneeded services, and services that are needed but not provided. When scored as a ratio scale the ISN produced scores of service use, unmet need (i.e., want) and waste (i.e., use of a superfluous service).
Data have been collected from 194 teen moms enrolled in a national study: 98 in an in-home counseling experimental condition and 96 receiving standard services. The ISN has scoring range from 0-12 for need for services, utilization of services, and unmet service need. Service use was inversely related to service waste (-.25, p<.001) and service need (-.52, p<.001). There was no association between service need and service waste (.05). Tobacco, alcohol and marijuana were only correlated with ISN subscales three times: service need correlated the number of days tobacco was used in the past 30 days ( -.16, p<.05) and the number of days alcohol was used (-.20, p<.01). Those who used more services reported more days of alcohol use (.19, p<.01). The number of problems resulting from alcohol or drugs was associated with teen mom's need for services.
Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants should be able to: 1) understand the use of the Index of Service Need (ISN) with low-income teenage mothers; 2) appreciate the significance ISN data; and 3) see the implications of these data for interventions designed for pregnant and parenting teens
Keywords: Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Service Delivery
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.