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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Arlene Rubin Stiffman, PhD, Catherine Woodstock Striley, MSW, Eddie Brown, DSW, Emily Ostmann, BS, and Gordon Limb, PhD. Social Work, Washington University, Campus Box 1196, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, 314-935-6685, arstiff@gwbmail.wustl.edu
Mental health service research on American Indian adolescents is virtually nonexistent. This paper details the mental health need and service configurations of 403 Southwestern American Indian (AI) youth using data from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and the Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA). Seventy-nine percent had mental health or addiction problems, with half meeting criteria for at least one diagnosis. Only 25% of youth with a problem did not have any helper; most named a combination. The most common were "only informal" (n=54), "all except traditional" (n=47), and "only informal and professionals" (n=25). Half of the youth met criteria for one or more diagnoses. The more criteria met, the more likely youth were to have service configurations with informal adults (44% for no diagnoses, 61% for one, and 64% for two or more), nonspecialist professionals (21%, 41%, and 42%); and specialists (3%, 13%, and 21%). Youth with one diagnosis were more likely to have a peer helper than youth with no or multiple diagnoses (63% vs. 40% and 50%). One in 4 youth met criteria for drug dependence/abuse or conduct disorder, 1 in 5 for depression, and 1 in 8 for alcohol dependence/abuse. Youth reaching diagnostic criteria were more likely to use a service configuration with a specialist: 27% for alcohol, drug, or conduct disorder, and 21% for depression. Youth with depression were most likely to use configurations with peers (64%). Youth with drug dependence/abuse or conduct disorder were most likely to use configurations with non-specialist professionals (44%).
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: American Indians, Mental Health Services
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.